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Why do hydrogen molecules move and diffuse faster than molecules of other gases?
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Hydrogen molecules move and diffuse faster than those of any other gas because hydrogen has the lowest molecular weight of all gases.1
According to the kinetic theory of gases, light molecules possess higher average speeds than heavy molecules when at the same temperature. Because hydrogen's molecular weight is lower than that of any other gas, its molecules maintain a higher velocity at a given temperature, which directly results in a faster rate of diffusion.21