Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
In sunlight, the Moon's surface reaches about K. The escape speed from the Moon is km/s. (a) Find the rms speeds of hydrogen ( g/mol) and oxygen ( g/mol) at K. (b) The fraction of molecules faster than a speed is , where . Use the program to find this fraction at the escape speed, for both gases. Which gas does the Moon lose quickly?
with in kg/mol. The ratio is .
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. Hydrogen. m/s.
Step 2. Oxygen. Sixteen times heavier, so four times slower: m/s.
Step 3. The fractions. For hydrogen, m/s and . The fraction is : about a third of the hydrogen molecules can escape at any moment. For oxygen, and the fraction is about .
Answer: m/s and m/s; a fraction of the hydrogen and about of the oxygen. The Moon loses hydrogen at once. It loses oxygen slowly, but over millions of years that is enough to lose it too.
Watch out. Comparing alone with the escape speed is not enough. Escape happens from the fast tail of the distribution.
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