Would water molecules in venus’ atmosphere, whose temperature is 740 k, escape into outer space? a water molecule has a mass that is 18 times that of a hydrogen atom. recall that gas eventually will escape if the average velocity of its atoms is greater than 1/6 times the escape velocity of the planet. the escape velocity of venus is 10 km/s.

The water molecule cannot escape, since the average velocity of the water molecules is less than one sixth of the escape velocity of venus.

Explanation:

The average speed of gas molecules is given by:

R is the gas constant, T is the temperature and M the molar mass of the gas.

We know that a water molecule has a mass that is 18 times that of a hydrogen atom:

So, we have:

The water molecule cannot escape, since the average velocity of the water molecules is less than one sixth of the escape velocity of venus:

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