Diffusion Coefficient Calculation

smoez

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Mar 24, 2015
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Hello everyone i've been stuck on this problem for four days now and its nearing the due date, I don't know what to do I've hit a wall with my solution posting online is my last resort
The problem, all variables and given/known data

Consider a horizontal glass tube with an inner diameter of 5 mm and a length, L, of 500 mm filled with pure nitrogen gas at a temperature of 25C, pressure of 101.3kPA. The tube is capped at both sides. At t=0 one cap is removed exposing one end to oxygen gas at same temperature and pressure.


Calculate the Diffusion Coefficent of oxygen gas in a binary mixture of nitrogen gas with these conditions.


Relevant equations


Diffusion Equation
D=3π8(kT2πμ)0.51ρσ\displaystyle D = \frac {3 \pi}{8} (\frac {k T}{2 \pi \mu})^{0.5} \frac {1}{\rho \sigma}
k is the boltzmann constant
T is temperature
μ=m1m2m1+m2\displaystyle \mu = \frac {m1 m2}{m1 + m2} is reduce mass, m is mass
σN2=0.43nm2\displaystyle \sigma N_2 = 0.43 nm^2 is the collision cross section of Nitrogen (O2 = 0.4 nm2)
ρ\displaystyle \rho is the density


Attempt
My attempt at a solution started with calculating the moles of Nitrogen Gas using the cylinder parameters
n=PVRT\displaystyle n = \frac {PV}{RT} , where V=πr2L\displaystyle V = \pi r^2 L
n=101300×π×(0.00252)0.58.31×298\displaystyle n = \frac {101300 \times \pi \times (0.0025^2) 0.5}{8.31\times 298}
n=4.00×104mol\displaystyle n = 4.00 \times 10^{-4} mol


Then solved for mass
m=n×MolarMassNitrogen/1000\displaystyle m = n\times Molar Mass Nitrogen/1000
m=4.00×104×28.02/1000\displaystyle m = 4.00\times 10^{-4} \times 28.02/1000
m=1.10×105kg\displaystyle m = 1.10\times 10^{-5} kg


Then solved for density
ρ=1.10×105pi(0.00252)0.5\displaystyle \rho = \frac {1.10\times 10^{-5}}{ pi(0.0025^2)0.5}
ρ=1.14kg/m3\displaystyle \rho = 1.14 kg/m^3


Heres where I get stuck: I originally DID NOT notice that σ\displaystyle \sigma was in nm2 and continued using σ=4.3×1010m\displaystyle \sigma = 4.3\times 10^{-10} m and solved for a diffusion coefficient of ~5 x 10-1 m2/s. I know this is wrong but the value makes sense as the two molecules are gasses meaning diffusion is fairly rapid. Using the correct σ=1.89×1019m\displaystyle \sigma = 1.89 \times 10^{-19} m I get like 5000000 m2 /s which is incorrect obviously. However, I don't know where i went wrong I looked through my calculations several times and I really don't know what to do


Please please help!
 
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