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What is the diffusion coefficient of oxygen in air at room temperature (25°C) and standard atmospheric pressure (1 atm)? How does this compare to the diffusion coefficient of water vapor in air under the same conditions?

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The diffusion coefficient of a gas in air can be calculated using the Chapman-Enskog equation:D =  3.03  10^-7  * T^3/2   /  P *  M1^1/3  + M2^1/3  ^2 where D is the diffusion coefficient  in cm/s , T is the temperature in Kelvin, P is the pressure in atm, M1 and M2 are the molar masses of the two gases in g/mol.For oxygen  O2  in air, we can assume air to be primarily composed of nitrogen  N2 . The molar masses of O2 and N2 are 32 g/mol and 28 g/mol, respectively. Room temperature is 25C, which is equivalent to 298.15 K, and standard atmospheric pressure is 1 atm.Plugging these values into the equation:D_O2 =  3.03  10^-7  * 298.15^3/2   /  1 *  32^1/3  + 28^1/3  ^2 D_O2  0.211 cm/sFor water vapor  H2O  in air, the molar mass of H2O is 18 g/mol. Using the same equation:D_H2O =  3.03  10^-7  * 298.15^3/2   /  1 *  18^1/3  + 28^1/3  ^2 D_H2O  0.243 cm/sComparing the two diffusion coefficients, the diffusion coefficient of water vapor in air  0.243 cm/s  is slightly higher than that of oxygen in air  0.211 cm/s  under the same conditions of room temperature and standard atmospheric pressure. This means that water vapor diffuses slightly faster in air than oxygen.

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