Question

A 0.5 mole sample of He(g) and a .5 mole sample of Ne(g) are places separately in two 10.0 L rigid containers at 25 C. each container has a pinhole opening. Which of the gases, He or Ne will escape faster through the pinhole and why?

Answer 1

Answer:

Helium

Explanation:

Scottish physicist Thomas Graham formulated a law known as Graham's law of effusion in 1848. He conducted an experiment and found the relationship between the rate of effusion of a gas and its molar mass as:

$r=\sqrt {\frac {1}{M}}$

where,  

r is the rate of effusion of a gas

M is the molar mass of the gas.

And for two gases taking different rate of effusion as r₁ and r₂ to effuse, the formula is:

$\frac {r_1}{r_2}=\sqrt {\frac {M_2}{M_1}}$

Since, Helium has a lower molecular mass as compared to that  of neon. So, Helium will escape faster through the pinhole.