Question

Maxwell’s laws of distribution of velocities shows that
A. The number of molecules with most probable velocity is very large
B. The number of molecules with most probable velocity is small
C. The number of molecules with most probable velocity is zero
D. The number of molecules with most probable velocity is exactly equal to 1

Answer 1

Maxwell’s distribution expresses the fraction of molecules of a known gas having a specific speed. Maxwell’s distribution curve is a graph of the number of gas molecules vs. the velocity that a molecule can have. The area under the curve signifies the total number of molecules of the particular gas.

Complete step by step answer:
At any definite temperature, different molecules of gases have different speeds but due to continuous collision their speeds will change; it may be increasing or decreasing by their particular speed rests constantly at any constant pressure and the curve plotted compared to their corresponding speeds at any specific temperature is known by Maxwell Boltzmann distribution curve.
In general, we can say that the Maxwell distribution curve expresses the speed of the molecules at a specific temperature. The speed of the biggest number of molecules is the most probable speed. And if we talk about the consequence of temperature on the speed that the temperature will increase with the increase in most probable speed. Also, it can be deliberated that the curve flattens when the temperature increases. Thus we can simply conclude that at high temperatures the greater number of molecules is moving at greater speed. Thus, from the above discussion, we can accomplish that Maxwell’s laws of distribution of velocities show that the number of molecules with the most probable velocity is very large.
So, the correct answer is option (A).

Note: Like temperature, there is also an effect of nature of gas depending on the curve which can be described as lighter gases will have higher speed as compared to heavier ones i.e. we can say that lighter gases can move without difficulty as compared to heavier gases.