What do you expect to happen if the temperature of a sample of gas in a rigid box is increased?

Question

Options:

1. Molecules of the gas move faster
2.  Molecules of the gas move slower
3.  Volume of the gas increases
4.  Volume of the gas decreases

Answer 1

As temperature increases, the molecules speed up (move faster). As temperature decreases, the molecules slow down.

Answer 2

First of all, if the box is rigid, that means the volume cannot change, so you can safely eliminate the last two answers. Now, you just have to decide what happens to the speed of the molecules when temperature is increased. Remember that temperature is directly related to the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample, which means increasing the temperature will increase the speed of the particles. This simulation: https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gas-properties/latest/gas-properties_en.html can help you visualize this concept.