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Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: polaris on December 27, 2005, 10:33:12 PM

Title: what does the kinetic molecular theory mean?
Post by: polaris on December 27, 2005, 10:33:12 PM

I'm not sure what the kinetic molecular theory means when it states:

1.  The volume of all the molecules of the gas is negligible compared to the total volume in which hte gas is contained.

2.  Attractive and repulsive forces between gas molecules are negligible.

Title: Re:Kinetic Molecular Theory
Post by: Bakegaku on December 27, 2005, 11:23:19 PM

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1.  The volume of all the molecules of the gas is negligible compared to the total volume in which hte gas is contained.

If you multiplied the volume of each molecule by the total number of molecules, it will be much less than the volume of the gas.  This is because there is so much space between the particles.

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2.  Attractive and repulsive forces between gas molecules are negligible.

The molecules won't interact with eachother.  If they did, they'd condense into a liquid and no longer be a gas.