Which of the following decreases when a given mass of gas is compressed to half its initial volume?
Answer Details
When a given mass of gas is compressed to half its initial volume, the frequency of collisions between the gas molecules increases. This is because the same number of gas molecules are now present in half the volume, so they have less space to move around and are more likely to collide with each other. The average intermolecular distance between the gas molecules also decreases since they are now closer together. However, the number of molecules present remains the same, and the atomic radius of each particle is not affected by compression. Therefore, the option that decreases when a given mass of gas is compressed to half its initial volume is the average intermolecular distance between the gas molecules.