Gas Laws

Standard Temperature and Pressure

• Temperature = 0ºC

• Pressure = 1 atm (101.325 kPa) NOTE

• Thus, 1 mole of gas at STP occupies

22.4 L (c.f. 22.7L when P = 1 bar)
• IDEAL GAS:
• Molecules have zero volume
• Molecules have no attractions or repulsions
to each other.
• Molecules travel only in straight lines and
collide only the with walls of the container.
Avagadro’s Law
• Equal volumes of different gasses at a
fixed T and P have equal number of
moles.

For example, in the reaction

2H2(g) + O2(g)  2H2O(g)
2L         1L        2L

• This assumption is only true for low

pressure and relatively high
temperature (like, say, room T & P)
Example
In the Haber process, hydrogen and nitrogen react
to produce ammonia.
What volume of hydrogen is needed to react with
5.3 L of nitrogen?
How much ammonia is produced?
Balance the equation: 3 H2 + N2  2 NH3
5.3 L N2 3 H2
= 15.9 L H2
1 N2

5.3 L N2 2 NH3
= 10.6 L NH3
1 N2
Boyle’s Law
•Boyle measured Pressure versus
volume relationship and found that
their product is constant for a given
temperature
P1V1 = P2V2

Applet
Example
A sample of air occupies a volume of 450.0 mL at
20ºC and 1.00 bar (100 kPa). What will be the
pressure of this gas if it is transferred to a 2.000 L
bulb at the same temperature?

P1V1 = P2V2

0.4500 L
P2 = P1V1/V2 = 1.00 bar × = 0.225 bar
2.000 L
Charles’ Law
•Charles measured volume changes
as a function of temperature and
discovered a direct relationship, such
that:
V1 V2
=
T1 T2

Applet
Example
A sample of gas occupies 400.0 mL at
25.00ºC and 1 bar pressure. What volume
will it occupy at 200.00ºC at the same P?
V1 V2
=
T1 T2

V2T1 400 mL × (200.00 + 273.15)K

V1 = = = 634.8 mL
T2 (25.00 + 273.15)K

Note that the SI unit of pressure is kPa. Standard pressure is defined

as 1 bar or 100 kPa for thermodynamic purposes.
Ideal Gas Law
• Avogadro's Law V = k1n |T,P
• Boyle's Law V = k2 / P |T,n
• Charles' Law V = k3T |n,P
We now recast these three laws into a single law that
can be used for any of these situations.
This new version is called the Ideal Gas Law.

V = koverall nT/P

Rearrange and replace the generic constant with the

specific one for an ideal gas to get the ideal gas law.

PV = nRT
3-D chart of Ideal Gas Law

45

40

35

30

25
V/L
20
15
10
500
5
350
0 T/K
200
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 50
9 10
P/atm 11

Excel Worksheet
Example
A sample of butane (C4H10) of mass 3.728 g is placed
in an evacuated bulb of volume 489 mL at 25.ºC. What
is its pressure?

PV = nRT … But what is n?

1 mol
n = 3.728 g × = 6.414 × 102
58.124 g

nRT 0.06414 mol × 8.314 J/molK × 298.15 K

P= =
V 489. cm3 (1m/100cm)3

P = 325 kPa
Molar mass
http://www.ivstandards.com/extras/pertable/
More complex example
A bulb is filled with H2 gas at a temperature T.
The pressure is 756 mmHg. A portion of the
gas is transferred to a flask and at 100 kPa, 1 2
occupies 40.0 mL at the same temperature T.
The pressure in the original bulb drops to 625
mmHg at temp. T. What is the volume of the
bulb? Definitions:
(NOTE: 100 kPA = 750.0 mmHg) n = total # moles of H2(g)
n1 = # mol in flask
(1) n = n1 + n2 n2 = # mol left in bulb
(2) 756 mmHg×V = nRT V = Volume of bulb

(3) 750 mmHg×40.0 mL = n1RT

(4) 625 mmHg×V = n2RT 
We have what looks like 4 equations with 5 unknowns.
However we don’t need to know T, which is a constant and R is
also a constant so maybe, we can cancel them out and
simplify.
Example, cont.
(1) n = n1 + n2
(2) 756 mmHg×V = nRT
(3) 750 mmHg×40.0 mL = n1RT
(4) 625 mmHg×V = n2RT 
Substitute 1 into 2 to replace the ‘n’ with n1 + n2.

756mmHg×V = (n1 + n2)RT = n1 RT + n2 RT

Now, sub in 3 and 4 to eliminate the ‘RT’.
756mmHg×V = 750mmHg×40.0mL + 625mmHg×V
Now, we have only one unknown, V. Also note that we can
cancel the units mmHg by dividing both sides of the equation by
mmHg.

Solving yields V = 229 mL

Daulton’s Law of Partial Pressures
In a mixture of gases, The sum of the partial pressures equals the
total pressure and the number of moles of each gas is proportional
to the pressures of the gases.
In layman’s terms, each gas in a mixture of gases acts as if it were the only one in
the container.
Consider two ideal gases, A and B:

PAV = nART PBV = nBRT

PA = nART/V PB = nBRT/V

PT = PA + PB = nART/V + nBRT/V
=   (nA+ nB)RT/V = nTRT/V

PAV nART PA nA
=  =
PBV nBRT PB nB

We’ve found another shortcut to use with stoichiometry

calculations under certain conditions.
Consider Air
Mole % In 100 mol In 100 kPa

78.08 % N2 78.08 mol N2 78.08 kPa N2

20.95 % O2 20.95 mol O2 20.95 kPa O2

0.934 % Ar + … 0.934 mol Ar + … 0.934 kPa Ar +

…
Consider gas collected over water
• Gas pressure plus water-vapour pressure add to
make total pressure.
Example
KClO3 is decomposed according to the reaction
2 KClO3  2KCl + 3 O2. 1.44 litres of oxygen is collected over
water at 18.6ºC. The vapour pressure of water is 0.020
atmospheres. Atmospheric pressure is 0.983 atm. What would
the volume of this same sample of oxygen be at STP if it were dry
(no water vapour).
P(O2) = PT – P(H2O)
= .983 atm – 0.020 atm = 0.963 atm

PV 0.963 atm 1.44L K-mol

nO2= =
RT 0.08206 L-Atm 292.75 K
nO2 = 5.77 × 10-2 mol

nRT 5.77×10-2 mol 0.08206 L-Atm 273.15 K

V= =
P 1 atm K-mol

V = 1.29 L
Dynamic Model
• Thinking Experiment.
– Click Here to open the model
– Note that we can follow the properties
of a gas (or mixture)
– Does the Ideal Gas Law work always?
– What do we need to consider to make a
better model of a “real” gas?