# Speed distribution of lighter vs heavier gases

I cannot understand why the range of molecular speed is not always wider for a lighter gas as compared to a heavier gas .

If the same energy is supplied to both gases then wouldn't the molecular speed of the lighter gas be more?

• Do you have an example of such an exception? I don't doubt that there are exceptions since the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution requires a system to be at thermal equilibrium and assumes ideal gases. However do you have a specific example of a situation where a lower molecular weight gas has a thinner distribution? Apr 16 '17 at 3:09
• @Tyberius If i have the example of exception then why would I have asked the question Apr 16 '17 at 6:31
• Let me rephrase my question. If you don't have a specific example, how do you know it happens? What source told you that this could be the case? Apr 16 '17 at 13:30
• Knowing what led to this question might help to provide an explanation that addresses your specific concern. But as I mentioned in the comments to my answer, probably the main cause of deviations from Maxwell Boltzmann would be real gas behavior (attraction and repulsion) and multiatomic molecules, which have internal degrees of freedom where they can store the thermal energy. Apr 16 '17 at 15:47

In the first plot, $a=\sqrt{k_bT/M}$ where $M$ is the molar mass and $k_b$ Boltzmann's constant. For a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, the variance is given by $$\sigma^2= \frac{a^2\cdot(3\pi-8)}{\pi}=\frac{k_b\cdot T\cdot(3\pi-8)}{M\cdot\pi}$$ So, this shows that the speed distribution will be wider for higher temperatures and smaller molar mass.