What is the ratio predicted from Graham's law for rates of diffusion for NH_3/HCl ?
1 Answer
Graham's Law of Diffusion just bases the ratio of diffusion rates
z^"*" prop 1/sqrt(M^"*") .
Or more explicitly, with either gas having
z_B/z_A = sqrt(M_A/M_B)
You can see this answer for a more explicit derivation.
(The molar masses here can be used as
=> color(blue)(z_(NH_3)/(z_(HCl))) = sqrt(M_(HCl)/M_(NH_3))
= sqrt("36.4609 g/mol"/"17.0307 g/mol")
= color(blue)(1.463)
So, ammonia gas diffuses a bit less than
Another way to do this is to get the ratio of their molar masses right away:
"17.0307 g/mol"/"36.4609 g/mol" = 0.467 and as such, we normalize
M_(NH_3) to0.467 andM_(HCl) to1 , as well asz_(HCl) = 1 .
Ammonia then has a rate of diffusion that is...
z_(NH_3) prop 1/sqrt(0.467) => 1.463 times as fast.
Whichever way works for you. I would suggest the first way, which is perhaps a bit less confusing.