The average kinetic energy of the particles of a gas is directly proportional to ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The kinetic energy of a particle is given by 1/2mv^2, where m is the mass of the particle and v is its velocity. The root mean square (rms) speed of the gas is proportional to the square root of the average kinetic energy of the particles. Therefore, squaring the rms speed would be proportional to the average kinetic energy, which means that the average kinetic energy is directly proportional to the square of the rms speed.

The Average Kinetic Energy of the Particles of a Gas