1.

4
Calculations involving gases:
Chemists use chemical equations to work out the masses of reactants and products
involved in a reaction. If one or more of these is a gas, it is sometimes more useful to
know its volume rather than its mass.
Avogadros law:
Equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure contain an equal
number of molecules.
Molar volume:
The number of molecules in one mole of any gas is always 6.02 x 10 23
o this quantity is known as the Avogadro constant, NA
The molecules in a gas are very far apart so the actual size of each molecule has a
negligible effect on the total volume the gas occupies.
So, one mole of any gas always occupies the same volume, no matter which gas it is.
The volume occupied by one mole of any gas at a particular temperature and
pressure is called the molar volume.
At standard temperature and pressure (0oC/273K and pressure of 1atm) the molar
volume of a gas is 22.4 dm3.
At room temperature, around 25oC and 1atm pressure, the volume of a mole of any
gas is about 24dm3.
The idea of molar volume allows you to calculate the amount in moles from the
volume of a gas, and vice versa provided you know the temperature and pressure of
the gas.
Below are 2 examples, need to assume the molar volume of a gas at room temp. and
pressure (r.t.p.) is 24dm3

Reacting volumes of gases:

Can use molar volumes to work out volumes of gases involved in a reaction.
E.g. manufacture of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen:
o N2(g) + 3H2(g)
2NH3(g)
o 1 mole N2(g) + 3 moles H2(g)
2 moles NH3
Using the idea that one mole of each gas occupies 24dm3 at r.t.p. we can write:
o 24dm3N2 + (3x24) dm3H2
(2 x 24 )dm3 NH3
For reaction involving only gases, we can convert a statement about the number of
moles of each substance involved to the same statement about volumes.
o N2(g) +
3H2(g)
2NH3(g)
o 1 mole
3 moles
2 moles
o 1 volume 3 volumes
2 volumes
Measuring volumes:

Units you will use to measure volume will depend on how big the volume is.
Large volumes usually measured in cubic decimetres (dm3)
Smaller volumes are measured in cubic metres (cm3)
A decimetre in a tenth of a metre, i.e. 10 cm
A cubic decimetre is therefore 10cm x 10cm x 10cm = 1000cm3
1dm3 = 1000cm3

Working with masses and volumes:

Methods used in 1.3 can
be extended to
calculations involving
volumes of gases.