Recent content by argon

Let's say I have a molecule such as CO2, where there are three atoms and a linear structure. I understand that there are 3 translational degrees of freedom and 2 rotational degrees of freedom (since it's symmetric). However, the number of vibrational degrees of freedom (DoF) confuses me. My...

Thank you for your help and patience. I believe that we are, indeed, expected to consider vastly simplified cases. I think as the course progresses we'll be addressing these further. Assuming truly random motion, I would expect 1/3 of the particles to travel in the x direction and contribute...

Perhaps it is because we derived the ideal gas equation based on a piston-cylinder system (and not a box) where the piston was in the horizontal direction. In this case, it would be impossible for a pressure to be in the y or z direction, as particles can only collide with the piston in the x...

Hello! Why thank you (I've actually been here before, but I couldn't be bothered resetting my other account's password!) That is a very good question. You know, the problem statement doesn't specify. That being said, in class I believe we only considered gases going between the 2 walls of the...

Homework Statement Consider a photon gas (particle-like nature) with N photons of monochromatic light in a box that has a volume V. You can assume everything is perfectly reflecting. What is the pressure of the photon gas based on the ideal gas law derivation? Homework Equations N/A. The...