The total energy for an ideal gas is given by:
E=2f​nRTwhere:
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f is the number of degrees of freedom of the gas molecules,
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n is the number of moles of the gas,
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R is the universal gas constant,
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T is the temperature.
For a diatomic molecule like oxygen (O
2​):
- The number of degrees of freedom
f=5 (3 translational and 2 rotational, neglecting vibrational modes).
For a monoatomic molecule like argon (Ar):
- The number of degrees of freedom
f=3 (3 translational, no rotation in ideal cases for argon).
Now, calculate the total energy for the mixture:
- The energy for 1 mole of oxygen:
EO2​​=25​⋅1⋅RT=25​RT- The energy for 3 moles of argon:
EAr​=23​⋅3⋅RT=29​RTThe total energy for the mixture is the sum of the energies of oxygen and argon:
Etotal​=EO2​​+EAr​=25​RT+29​RT=214​RT=7RTThus, the total energy of the gas mixture is:
7RT​ Quick Tip: For ideal gases, the total energy is calculated by the formula
E=2f​nRT, where
f depends on the type of gas (monoatomic or diatomic). The total energy for a mixture is simply the sum of the individual energies for each component.