Chemistry
Chemistry
Problem
Which of the following best explains why real gases deviate less from the ideal gas law at higher temperatures? a) Molecules expand when heated, making their individual volumes negligible compared with the container volume and thus removing the volume correction. b) Molecules possess greater kinetic energy, so intermolecular attractions become negligible compared with the energy of collisions. c) Molecules collide less frequently at higher temperature, so the finite volume of the particles has little effect on the measured pressure. d) Molecules ionize at very high temperature, and the resulting ions no longer experience attractive forces or occupy volume, leading to ideal-gas behaviour.Intuitive explanation
At higher temperatures, gas molecules move much faster and spend less time near each other, so intermolecular forces become negligible compared to their kinetic energy. The ideal gas law assumes no attractions between particles and no molecular volume—assumptions that break down when molecules linger close together. By heating up, you're essentially overwhelming the weak van der Waals interactions that cause deviations, making real gases behave more like the ideal model predicts.
Intuitive explanation
At higher temperatures, gas molecules move much faster and spend less time near each other, so intermolecular forces become negligible compared to their kinetic energy. The ideal gas law assumes no attractions between particles and no molecular volume—assumptions that break down when molecules linger close together. By heating up, you're essentially overwhelming the weak van der Waals interactions that cause deviations, making real gases behave more like the ideal model predicts.