if we filll a tank with equal quantity of Hydrogen and Oxygen , which one will get rapidly leak ?

Question

if we filll a tank with equal quantity of Hydrogen and Oxygen , which one will get rapidly leak ?

Answer 1

I am not sure if it was meant to be a trick question.

They will more likely rapidly combine (burn) and explode producing high temperature high pressure water steam. If the tank is tough enough the subsequent leak, depending on the available leak hole sizes, may be first much faster for the one-half surplus unbonded O2 molecules because they are smaller in size compared to the water droplets. A single water molecule is smaller than a single O2 but water molecules bonds more readily because they are dipoles. As all the unbonded O2 molecues escape, the leak rate changes to become twice as fast for hydrogen because each water molecule has two hydrogen for each oxygen atom.

If the amounts are very little and there is no energy trigger point to start a very easily burning, the partial pressure of each O2 and H2 gases will equal one another (PV = nRT). At this meta stable mixture condition, again depending on the available leak hole sizes, the hydrogen molecules might leak more rapidly than might the oxygen's because of smaller molecular size. (It is a common practice in industry to do fine leak tests using pressurized helium instead of air).

Unless then tank is of a gigantic gravity-vertical size, because the common initial partial pressure is much greater than the molecular weights difference, the two gases don’t noticeably separate into two parts with the heavier O2 molecules sink to the bottom unless they are densely packed and the sum of the two's partial pressures is high enough to liquefied them--but they are surely explode together to reach to a much much lower and more stable water-state's energy level before getting anywhere near such a high (internal energy) pressure.

Answer 2

? well the Hydrogen is smaller and lighter than the O2 molecule. So the hydrogen will fit through smaller holes than the oxygen. But hydrogen will sit on top of the oxygen so the oxygen will escape from lower points of exit while the hydrogen higher. all in all.... I don't really know. That's why I took physics

Answer 3

water.