Jenny measures the temperature inside a cave to be 10°C. The temperature outside the cave is about 30°C warmer. How does the kinetic energy of the air molecules inside the cave compare to the kinetic energy of the air molecules outside the cave? The kinetic energy of the air molecules inside the cave is the kinetic energy of the air molecules outside the cave.

The kinetic energy of the air molecules in the cave is less than the kinetic energy of molecules outside the cave.

Explanation:

The kinetic energy of any molecule is directly proportional to the temperature of the gas.

Temperature of a gas is the heat energy provided to the molecules. As the temperature energy increase the molecules of the gas will move fastly and collide with each other.

So we can know the kinetic energy of molecules in the gas by measuring its temperature.

Hence the temperature of the cave is less than outside, so the kinetic energy will also be low.

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