Re: nitrogen vs air in tires
Please use the search feature for previous threads on N2 filled tires.
Bottom line: N2 is "dry" out of the bottle- no water vapor. The air you pump into your tires at the gas station has a lot of moisture in it. The presence of water vapor outstrips most other factors as it cools and heats.
O2, N2, He, air, etc all more or less obey the ideal gas law because they are not near their condensing point, so they all behave about the same. Water vapor is definitely not an ideal gas at normal temperatures and pressures; its behavior masks many other effects.
Yes, the N2 molecule is larger than the O2 molecule. By a few Angstroms...a tenth of a billionth of a meter. I really doubt the pore size of modern tires cuts off at that scale.
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