Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
Nitrogen fills a vacuum chamber at . Take a nitrogen molecule as a sphere of diameter , its molar mass as , and . Use for the mean free path and for the mean speed.
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.
Plan. Number density from , then the mean free path, the collision rate, and a scaling for the pumped chamber.
Step 1. Number density (a). .
Step 2. Mean free path (b). . The bottom line is , so
Step 3. Collision rate (c). , with and . So , so a molecule collides times each second.
Step 4. Spacing (d). . The mean free path is times larger. A molecule passes many neighbours before it hits one, because each neighbour is a very small target.
Step 5. Pumped chamber (e). At a fixed temperature :
Below about this pressure, molecules cross the chamber from wall to wall without hitting each other.
Answer: (a) . (b) . (c) . (d) about times. (e) .
Check. The same comes from in one step. And in (e) there are still molecules in each cubic centimetre: a good vacuum is far from empty.
Watch out. Use the diameter, not the radius, in . With the radius the mean free path comes out four times too large.
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