Virtual Chemistry Experiments

Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases

Topic	Concepts	Experiment
Basic Concepts	The postulates of the kinetic molecular theory of gases are presented and discussed.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is presented.
Maxwell Distribution	The meaning of the Maxwell distribution is discussed.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is employed to explore the effect of temperature on the shape of the Maxwell distribution.
Pressure of a Gas	The physical origin of the pressure of a gas is discussed.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is employed to explore the effect of particle mass and number of particles (in a fixed volume) on the pressure of a gas.
Pressure-Volume Relation	The relation between pressure and volume for an ideal gas is discussed.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is employed to explore the effect of system volume on the pressure of a gas under isothermal conditions.
Pressure-Temperature Relation	The relation between pressure and temperature for an ideal gas is discussed.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is employed to explore the effect of system temperature on the pressure of a gas under isochoric conditions.
Diffusion	The concept of diffusion is described and illustrated.	A molecular-dynamics simulation of a gas is employed to explore the random-walk motion of a molecule.