| MadSci Network: Other |
|
The 1st ionisation energy stated in science text books is the energy
required to remove 1 mole of electrons from one mole of atoms in the
gaseous state. However, what is the temperature at the gaseous state? The
boiling point? I think that the energy required should vary at different
temperature, is it true?
How about bond energy? It should be different at different temperatures right? The answers are no and no. I think that you are confusing the rate of a process, which often varies with temperature, and the amount of energy required to carry out that process, which normally doesn't. The reason that the rate varies with temperature is that, at higher temperatures, there is more chance of accumulating enough energy for the reaction to happen -- there is more energy available generally. This means that reactions of all sorts happen more readily at high temperatures. As an example, we can vaporize mercury at 357° -- or at lower temperatures if the pressure is lower -- but you don't get a mercury plasma (an ionized gas) until the temperature rises to one or two thousand degrees. On the other hand, if you supply the energy in some other way (by zapping mercury vapor with a laser, for example) you can ionize some of the mercury even at relatively low temperatures.
|
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Other.