Thomas Graham found that, at a constant temperature and pressure the rates of effusion of various gases are inversely proportional to the square root of their masses.
<em>ν ∝ 1/√M</em>
where ν is the rate of effusion and M is the atomic or molecular mass of the gas particles.
The molecular mass for the listed gases are:
O₂: 32.0 g/mol,
Cl₂: 70.906 g/mol,
N₂: 28.0 g/mol,
H₂: 2.0 g/mol.
Hence, the smallest molecular mass of the gas, the fastest rate of effusion.
So, the order from the slowest to the fastest rate of effusion is:
