Equipartition theorem

The mean kinetic energy of a particle is directly proportional to the thermodynamic temperature:

$u={\frac {3}{2}}kT$

For the total energy of 1 mol of gas:

$U_{p}={\frac {3}{2}}RT$

Characteristics

Monatomic molecules of gases perform only a translational movement described in space by the axes x, y, z, i.e. they have three degrees of freedom (i = 3).

Biatomic molecules also perform vibrational and rotational movements (i = 5).

Equipartition theorem: the number of degrees of freedom of a gas depends on the number of atoms in its molecules.

The general equation for the total energy of the gas is therefore:

$U={\frac {i}{2}}RT$

Links

Sources

• KUBATOVA, Senta. Biofot [online]. [cit. 2011-01-31]. <https://uloz.to/!CM6zAi6z/biofot-doc>.