Question #ef39d

1 Answer
Feb 18, 2017

#4.53 * 10^(9)"kJ mol"^(-1)#

Explanation:

The first thing you need to do here is to figure out the frequency of the gamma-ray photons.

As you know, wavelength and frequency have an inverse relationship as given by the equation

#color(blue)(ul(color(black)(nu * lamda = c)))#

Here

  • #lamda# is the wavelength of the wave
  • #c# is the speed of light in a vacuum, usually given as #3 * 10^8"m s"^(-1)#

Rearrange the above equation to solve for #nu#

#nu * lamda = c implies nu = c/(lamda)#

In your case, a wavelength of

#2.43 * 10^(-5) color(red)(cancel(color(black)("nm"))) * "1 m"/(10^9color(red)(cancel(color(black)("nm")))) = 2.43 * 10^(-14)"m"#

will correspond to a frequency of

#nu = (3 * 10^8 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("m")))"s"^(-1))/(2.43 * 10^(-14)color(red)(cancel(color(black)("m")))) = 1.2346 * 10^(22)"s"^(-1)#

Now, to find the energy of a single gamma ray photon, use the Planck - Einstein relation

#color(blue)(ul(color(black)(E = h * nu)))#

Here

  • #E# is the energy of the photon
  • #h# is Planck's constant, equal to #6.626 * 10^(-34)"J s"#
  • #nu# is the frequency of the photon

In your case, you will have

#E = 6.626 * 10^(-34)"J" color(red)(cancel(color(black)("s"))) * 1.2346 * 10^(22)color(red)(cancel(color(black)("s"^(-1))))#

#E = 8.180 * 10^(-12)"J"#

In order to find the energy of one mole of gamma ray photons, use the fact that

#color(blue)(ul(color(black)("1 mole photons" = 6.022 * 10^(23)color(white)(.)"photons")))#

In your case, you will have

#6.022 * 10^(23) color(red)(cancel(color(black)("photons"))) * (8.180 * 10^(-12)"J")/(1color(red)(cancel(color(black)("photon")))) = 4.53 * 10^(12)"J"#

Since this represents the energy of #6.022 * 10^(23)# photons, you can express it as joules per mole.

#"energy" = color(darkgreen)(ul(color(black)(4.53 * 10^(12)"J mol"^(-1))))#

A more common unit to use here is actually kilojoules per mole

#"energy" = color(darkgreen)(ul(color(black)(4.53 * 10^(9)"kJ mol"^(-1))))#

The answer is rounded to three sig figs.