Question

Consider the following statement regarding Maxwell's distribution of velocities. The correct statement(s) is/are :

• A. as temperature increases, the peak (maxima) of a curve is shifted towards the right side
• B. as temperature increases, the most probable velocity of molecules increases but a fraction of molecules of maximum velocity decreases
• C. the area under the curve at all the temperatures is the same because it represents the number of gaseous molecules
• D. the fractions of molecules have different velocities are different at a given temperature

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B), (C), (D)

The correct options are
A as temperature increases, the peak (maxima) of a curve is shifted towards the right side
B the area under the curve at all the temperatures is the same because it represents the number of gaseous molecules
C the fractions of molecules have different velocities are different at a given temperature
D as temperature increases, the most probable velocity of molecules increases but a fraction of molecules of maximum velocity decreases

(A) As temperature increases, the peak (maxima) of a curve is shifted towards the right side.
This implies that the fraction of the molecules with given kinetic energy increases with an increase in the temperature.
Hence, option A is correct.

(B) As temperature increases, the most probable velocity of molecules increases but the fraction of molecules of maximum velocity decreases.
This is because with an increase in temperature the kinetic energy increases.
Hence, option B is correct.

(C) The area under the curve at all the temperatures is the same because it represents the number of gaseous molecules
At different temperatures, the total number of the gas molecules remains the same.
Hence, option C is correct.

(D)The fractions of molecules have different velocities are different at a given temperature.
They have different kinetic energies.
Hence, option D is correct.