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If 1 mol of ethanoic acid and 0.1 mol of methyl methanoate were completely combusted in two separate closed vessels under identical conditions, the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of the product gases from the combustion of ethanoic acid would be A - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 28 - 2020 - Paper 1
Question 28
If 1 mol of ethanoic acid and 0.1 mol of methyl methanoate were completely combusted in two separate closed vessels under identical conditions, the Maxwell-Boltzmann... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:If 1 mol of ethanoic acid and 0.1 mol of methyl methanoate were completely combusted in two separate closed vessels under identical conditions, the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of the product gases from the combustion of ethanoic acid would be A - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 28 - 2020 - Paper 1
Step 1
C. broader than the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of the methyl methanoate product gases and the chemical energy of the ethanoic acid product gases would be higher.
Answer
In this scenario, ethanoic acid, having a larger molar quantity (1 mol) compared to methyl methanoate (0.1 mol), will produce a broader Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution due to the higher number of molecules and increased variability in their velocities.
The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution describes the distribution of kinetic energies among molecules in a gas. A larger number of molecules leads to a broader distribution because it accounts for more variations in speed. Therefore, since there are more molecules from the ethanoic acid's combustion, its energy spread will be greater.
Additionally, the combustion of ethanoic acid is expected to release more energy because it involves more reactants, leading to a higher overall energy output compared to the combustion of the smaller amount of methyl methanoate. Thus, the chemical energy associated with the product gases from ethanoic acid will be higher.