MODELLING A GAS

Kinetic model of an ideal gas

The gaseous state of a material has certain properties. These properties relate to the behavior of the gas
molecules. The gases that we come across in daily life are termed as real gases. A complete description
of real gases may be slightly complicated. However excepting at very low temperature, high pressure
and high density conditions, the behavior of real gases is close to being ideal. Under such circumstances
we may take the real gases to behave as ideal gases. A description of ideal gases is given by the Kinetic
Model of Ideal Gas.
The following are the assumptions of the Kinetic Model of Ideal Gas:
A gas is composed of a large number of particles that behave like hard, point-like spherical
objects
The particles are in a state of constant, random motion
These particles move in a straight line until they collide with another particle or the walls of the
container
These particles are much smaller than the distance between the particles
There is no force of attraction between gas particles or between the particles and the walls of
the container
Collisions between gas particles or collisions with the walls of the container are perfectly elastic

Pressure of a gas
According to the kinetic model of an ideal gas , the gas molecules are in a state of constant random
motion. During this motion, they may collide with each other and with the walls of the container.
Each collision of the gas molecules with the walls of the container results in a force being exerted on the
walls of the container. Considering all such collisions, the walls of the container experience a significant
force. The force per unit area is the pressure of the gas.
Not
mandatory
as per IB
syllabus

According to the kinetic model of an ideal gas, the expression for the
pressure exerted by the gas is
1 2
=
3
N is the number of gas molecules per unit volume
m is the mass of each molecule
2 is the mean value of the square of the speed of the molecules
V is the volume of the gas

Temperature of a gas
According to the kinetic model of an ideal gas , the average kinetic energy of the molecules is given by
1
3
3
2 = =

2
2
2

kB is the Boltzmann constant (= 1.38 x 10-23 JK-1)

T is the temperature of the gas in Kelvin
R is the universal gas constant (= 8.31 JK-1mol-1)
NA is the Avagadros constant (= 6.02 x 1023 mol-1)
The above equation implies that

The temperature of a gas is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the gas molecules.
Higher the temperature, the average kinetic energy and hence the average speed of the molecules
increases.

Relation between P, V, and T of a gas

Macroscopic quantities or variables are the large scale properties of a gas that are observable and
measurable by instruments. Pressure (P), Volume (V) , Temperature (T) and quantity (expressed as
number of moles, n) of the gas are the macroscopic quantities of a gas. The relationship between these
quantities are given by the gas equations.

Relation between volume and pressure of a gas (Boyles law)

Pressure is caused by the collision of gas molecules on the walls of the container.
When the volume of a gas is reduced, the gas molecules have less distance to travel between the walls
of the container. This results in more frequent collisions on the walls of the container thereby increasing
the force on the walls. This leads to increased pressure on the walls of the container.
When the volume of the gas is increased, by a similar argument it can be shown that the pressure of the
gas is reduced.
Thus the pressure and volume of the gas is inversely related as long the temperature and quantity of
the gas remain unchanged.

valid when
temperature is
constant

Thus we have

(or)

= ( )
The above relation is stated as the Boyles law.

According to Boyles law, at constant temperature the pressure of a fixed mass of gas is
inversely proportional to the volume of the gas.
The following graph shows the variation of Pressure with the Volume of the gas:

Alternately, a linear graph can be drawn as below:

Relation between pressure and temperature of a gas (Pressure

law)
(In this topic all temperatures are taken in Kelvin)
Pressure is caused by the collision of gas molecules on the walls of the container.
Let us assume that the gas is sealed inside a rigid container and therefore the volume of the gas is
constant.
If the temperature of the gas is increased, the average speed of the gas molecules increases. With
volume remaining the same, the gas molecules make more frequent collisions with the walls of the
container. This increases the force on the walls resulting in a higher pressure.
Thus at constant volume, increasing temperature results in the increasing pressure of the gas.
valid when volume is
constant

(or)

= , at constant volume

The above relation is stated as the Pressure law (also known as Gay Lussacs law).

According to Pressure law, at constant volume, the pressure of a fixed mass of gas is directly
proportional to the (Kelvin) temperature of the gas.
A graph showing the relation between pressure and temperature is given below (values on the axis may
be ignored as the data may pertain to a particular experiment):

The graph shows that pressure and temperature are proportional (because the graph is a straight line
passing through origin).
You may notice that the graph line is solid till some low temperature and beyond which the line is
EXTRAPOLATED to meet the X-axis at 0K. This is because there is no way one can perform the
experiment with a gas at low temperature because in reality any gas would have become a liquid at low
temperatures. We may only extrapolate the graph line to low temperature with the help of available
data for normal temperatures.

Relation between volume and temperature of a gas (Charles

law)
(In this topic all temperatures are taken in Kelvin)
Pressure is caused by the collision of gas molecules on the walls of the container.
Assume that a gas is taken in a container that will allow the expansion of the gas. When the temperature
of the gas is increased, the average speed of the molecules increases. This will also result in the gas
expanding in a manner that with the higher speed, the molecules would have to travel longer distances
before colliding with the walls of the container. Essentially the number of collision per second on the
walls can then remain the same. So the force and the pressure exerted on the walls of the container is
unaltered.
Hence with an increase in temperature, the gas can expand (increasing volume) in a manner that the
pressure remains the same.
Thus at constant pressure, increasing temperature results in the increasing volume of the gas.
valid when pressure
is constant

(or)

= , at constant pressure

The above relation is stated as the Charles law.

According to Charles law, at constant pressure, the volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly
proportional to the (Kelvin) temperature of the gas.

A graph showing the relation between volume and temperature is given below:

The graph shows that volume and temperature are proportional (because the graph is a straight line
passing through origin).
You may notice that the graph line is solid till some low temperature beyond which the line is
EXTRAPOLATED to meet the X-axis at 0K (for the same reason as discussed earlier).
According to the graph, the gas seem to have ZERO volume at ZERO Kelvin. This seems like an impossible
thing to happen. Therefore it is considered that a temperature of ZERO Kelvin is unattainable.

Ideal gas law

(In this topic all temperatures are taken in Kelvin)
The gas laws we have seen so far are

Boyles law :

Pressure law:

Charles law:

The behavior of the ideal gas as above may be consolidated into one equation as follows:

=
where
n is the number of moles of the gas
R is the universal gas constant (= 8.31 J0K-1mol-1)

This equation is the ideal gas equation

Ideal gas
equation

You may see that the above equation involves all macroscopic variable such as P, V and T. Also by
allowing one of these variables to be a constant, the ideal gas equation can reduce to the mathematical
forms of Boyles law, Pressure law and Charles law
For a given mass of the gas, the ideal gas equation can be rearranged to give

or

valid under any

condition of the
ideal gas

Ideal gas and real gas

It has been already mentioned that a real gas behaves as an ideal gas except under the conditions of
high pressure, low temperatures and high density.

Alternately it may be said that a real gas behaves as an ideal gas under the conditions of
Low pressure
Moderate temperature
Low density
All the gas equations can be applied to a real gas under the above conditions (of low pressure,
moderate temperature and low density).
The reason for the above is that real gases deviate from the behavior of ideal gas as below:
Ideal gas
Gas molecules are consider as point-like objects
with no volume
No intermolecular forces
Intermolecular collisions are perfectly elastic

Real gas
Gas molecules do have some volume
Intermolecular forces do exist and not negligible
Intermolecular collisions are inelastic