If 100cm3 of oxygen pass through a porous plug is 50 seconds, the time taken for the same volume of hydrogen to pass through the same porous plug is? [O = 1...

If 100cm3 of oxygen pass through a porous plug is 50 seconds, the time taken for the same volume of hydrogen to pass through the same porous plug is? [O = 16, H = 1]

Answer Details

The rate at which a gas diffuses through a porous plug is inversely proportional to the square root of its molecular weight. The molecular weight of oxygen (O2) is 32 (16 x 2), while the molecular weight of hydrogen (H2) is 2 (1 x 2). Therefore, the square root of the ratio of the molecular weights of hydrogen and oxygen is: sqrt(2/32) = 0.25 This means that hydrogen diffuses through a porous plug 0.25 times as fast as oxygen. If it takes 50 seconds for 100cm3 of oxygen to pass through the porous plug, then it will take 0.25 times longer for the same volume of hydrogen to pass through the same porous plug. Thus, the time taken for the same volume of hydrogen to pass through the same porous plug is: 50 seconds x 0.25 = 12.5 seconds Therefore, the correct answer is 12.5s.