INTRODUCTION

Do you know that we are surrounded by many kitchen appliances that operate on
the basic principles of physics? The next time you boil water in a whistling
kettle, give a little thought on how the increase in temperature produces steam that
escapes the spout at high pressure.

Inside a pressure cooker, the environment is so tightly sealed that steam is literally
forced through foods. The high pressure inside the cooker also enables cooking
well above 100C. As a result, cooking becomes so much faster and the food is
able to retain most of its nutrients.

Chefs will tell you how meticulous they are about poking holes in potatoes before
baking them. The holes provide an important outlet for the high-pressure steam to
escape; otherwise the potatoes are liable to explode!

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TheGasLaws
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Understand the concept of the mole;
2. State the relationship between Boltzmanns constant and the gas
constant;
3. State and apply the three gas laws; and
4. State and apply the ideal gas equation.
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

42
The examples above serve to illustrate the close relationship that exist between
the macroscopic properties of a substance (such as pressure, volume and
temperature) and its mass.

In this topic, we will explore this close relationship with respect to an ideal gas.
THE IDEAL GAS
What is an ideal gas? An ideal gas is any gas that obeys the three ideal gas laws
i.e. Boyles Law, Charles Law and the Pressure Law for all values of pressure P
and temperature T.
3.1.1 The Ideal Gas Law
The ideal gas laws are summarised as follows:

(a) Dependency on the Number of Moles
At constant pressure and temperature, the volume of the gas V is directly
proportional to the number of molecules of the gas N. Since N is large for
gasses, the number of molecules is usually represented by the numbers of
moles n, where
A
N
n
N
= is the ratio for the molecules N with respect to
Avogadros number N
A
. The value of Avogadros number N
A
is 6.02 10
23

molecules/mole. Therefore,

V N n
(3.1)

Also
m
n
M
= is the ratio of the mass of the gas m to the molar mass M.
Molar mass is the mass of a mole of gas and is measured in kg mol
1
.

3.1
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS 43
Example 3.1
Determine the number of moles and the number of molecules of 0.1kg of
nitrogen in a closed container.

Solution
The molar mass of nitrogen is 28 g/mol or 0.028 kg/mol.


23
24
0.1kg
Number of molecules 3.57mole
0.028 kg/mol
Number of molecules (3.57 mole)(6.02 10 molecules/mol)
2.15 10 molecules
A
m
n
M
N nN
= = =
= =
=




(b) Boyles Law
Boyles Law states that the volume V of a gas is inversely proportional to
the pressure P at constant temperature T, i.e.

1
or constant
V
P
PV

=
(3.2)

Thus for a given mass of gas, at constant temperature P
1
V
1
=P
2
V
2
.
The relationship between P and
1
V
is shown in Figure 3.1.


Figure 3.1: Relationship between P and
1
V

How many moles are there in 1 kg of Nitrogen?
(The molar mass of nitrogen is 28 g/mol)
SELF-CHECK 3.1
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

44
(c) Charles Law
Charles Law states that the volume V of a gas is directly proportional to
the absolute temperature T at constant pressure P.


or constant
V T
V
T

=
(3.3)

Thus for a given gas at constant volume
1 2
1 2
V V
T T
= .
The relationship between V and T is shown in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Relationship between V and T

(d) The Pressure Law
The Pressure Law states that the pressure P of a gas is directly
proportional to the absolute temperature T at constant volume V, or:


or constant
P T
P
T

=
(3.4)

The relationship between P and T is shown in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Relationship between P and T
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS 45

3.1.2 The Ideal Gas Equation
From Equations 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4, we can deduce that

constant
PV
T
= (3.5)

Thus, for a certain mass of gas,
1 1 2 2
1 2
PV PV
T T
= .

The ideal gas equation gives the relationship between pressure P, volume V,
temperature T and the number of moles n of a gas in a container, thus


constant =
PV
nT
(3.6)

Figure 3.4: The behaviour of gases at high temperature and low pressure
ACTIVITY 3.1
The air pressure in a car tyre increases after driving. Why?
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

46
This constant, denoted by the letter R, is found to have the same value for all
gases at high T and low P as shown in Figure 3.4. R is called the universal gas
constant with a value equal to 8.315 J mol
1
K
1
.

Thus,


PV
R
nT
=
pV nRT = (3.7)

Equation 3.7 is known as the ideal gas equation.

In practice, there is no such thing as a truly ideal gas! However, it is a very useful
and powerful concept in physics because if the density is low enough all gases
approach the behaviour of an ideal gas. Notice also how we have elegantly
combined the three gas laws into a single equation, known as the ideal gas
equation.

The universal molar ideal gas constant is also given by the product between
Avogadros number N
A
and Boltzmanns constant k, i.e.

R = N
A
k

(3.8)

Therefore the ideal gas equation can also be written as:

PV =nN
A
k T (3.9)

or
PV =Nk T (3.10)

where N = nN
A
is the number of molecules.

Example 3.2
A cylinder of volume 4.0 10
3
m
3
contains gaseous oxygen at a temperature of
27C and pressure of 2 atmospheres. Determine the:
(a) Number of moles of oxygen molecules in the cylinder.
(b) Number of molecules.
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS 47
(c) Mass of the gas.
(d) Density of the gas.

[Given: The molar mass M of oxygen is 0.032 kg mol
1
. 1 atm =1.01 10
5
Pa].

Solution
T =27C =300 K, M =0.032 kg mol
1
=32 g mol
1

(a) Number of moles

5 3
2 1.01 10 4.0 10
0.32moles
8.315 300
PV
n
RT

(b) No. of molecules
23 23
0.32 6.022 10 1.93 10 molecules
A
N nN
(c) Mass 0.32 32 10.24g m nM
(d) Density
3
3
3
10.24 10
2.56kg m
4.0 10
m
V

Example 3.3
What is the volume of a mole of gas at standard temperature and pressure
(S.T.P)?

Solution
The standard pressure is 101.3 kPa and the standard temperature is 273 K.

From pV =nRT

3 3
3
1 8.315 273
22.4 10 m
101.3 10
nRT
V
p

Example 3.4
(a) What volume does 10 g of ammonia gas occupy at S.T.P?
(b) What volume does it occupy at 100C and at pressure 1.5 atm?

Given that the molar mass of ammonia is 17 g/mol.

TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

48
Solution
(a) There are 17 g in one mole of ammonia. So the number of moles in 1 g of
ammonia is therefore
10g
1mole 0.59moles
17g
= .

The volume occupied by 0.058 moles of ammonia at S.T.P can be found by
using the ideal gas equation pV = nRT. At S.T.P, the pressure is 101.3 kPa
and the temperature is 273 K.

So
3 3
3
0.59 8.315 273
13.22 10 m
101.3 10
nRT
V
p

= = =

(b) From
1 1 2 2
1 2
pV p V
T T
=


1 1 2
2
2 1
pVT
V
p T
=


where


3 3
1 1 1
2 2
1atm, 13.22 10 m, 0 C 273K
1.5atm, 100 C 373K
p V T
p T

= = = =
= = =

Substituting the values, we get
2
0.012 V = m.



You should attempt the following questions to test your understanding.

State the differences between macroscopic and microscopic parameters.
In an experiment, it is found that cylinders A and B have equal masses of
gaseous oxygen and nitrogen respectively. Which cylinder has the larger
number of moles?
ACTIVITY 3.2
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS 49

1. Determine the number of moles and number of molecules of 0.1 kg
gaseous oxygen in a container.

2. Determine the volume of 1 mole of an ideal gas at a pressure of
1 atmosphere and temperature of 0C.

3. A cylinder of volume 8.0 10
3
m
3
contains gaseous nitrogen at a
temperature of 27C and pressure of 3 atmospheres. Determine the
(a) Number of moles of nitrogen in the cylinder.
(b) Number of molecules.
(c) Mass of the gas.
(d) Density of the gas if the molar mass of nitrogen is 28 g/mol).

4. A 40 m
3
helium balloon has a temperature of 300 K pressure of
2 atmospheres. The balloon is brought to a height of 6 km and its
pressure and temperature respectively drop to 0.45 atmospheres and
265 K. If the balloon does not burst, what is the volume of the
balloon now?

5. (a) State Boyles law.
(b) An air bubble released at the bottom of a lake expands to
5 times its original volume by the time it reaches the surface. If
the atmospheric pressure is 100 kPa, show that the pressure at
the bottom of the lake is 500 kPa. Assume that the temperature
remains the same.
EXERCISE 3.1
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

50
XERCISE 3.1

There are three ideal gas laws mentioned in the topic:
- Boyles law;
- Charles law; and
- Pressure law.
The ideal gas equation is pV nRT = .



Boyles law
Charles law
Ideal gas
Macroscopic quantities
Pressure law
The ideal gas equation
The mole



1. State the ideal gas equation.
2. A sealed cylinder with volume 20 litres contains 0.14 kg of gaseous
helium at a temperature of 300 K. Determine the number of moles
and the pressure of the gas. (Molar mass of He =4 g mol
1
)
3. The gas in the cylinder mentioned in (2) is heated at constant
volume until its pressure is doubled. What is the new temperature
of the gas?
EXERCISE 3.2
TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS 51

1. According to Boyles Law
A. the pressure of a gas is proportional to the volume at constant
temperature.
B. the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to the volume at
constant temperature.
C. the pressure of a gas is proportional to the temperature at constant
volume.
D. the volume of an ideal gas is proportional to its temperature at constant
pressure.

2. An ideal gas has a volume of 1 Litre at pressure 1.00 atm and temperature
20C. Find its new pressure when the volume is halved and the
temperature is doubled.
A. 0.81 atm
B. 1.63 atm
C. 2.50 atm
D. 4.00 atm

3. What volume does 20 g of oxygen gas occupy at S.T.P? ( Molar mass of
oxygen is 32 g/mol)
A. 0.009 m
B. 0.014 m
C. 0.018 m
D. 0.022 m

4. Determine the number of molecules in 32 kg of oxygen gas.
A. 6.02 10
23

B. 6.02 10
24

C. 6.02 10
25

D. 6.02 10
26



TOPIC 3 THE GAS LAWS

52
5. A quantity of gas is heated from 300K to 450K at constant pressure. Find the
percentage increase in the volume of the gas
A. 25 %
B. 50 %
C. 75 %
D. 100 %


1. Define the following:
(a) Avogadros number.
(b) The mole.
(c) An ideal gas.
2. Sketch a graph to show the behaviour of gases at high temperatures and at
low pressures.
3. A cylinder of volume 8.0 10
3
m
3
contains an ideal gas at a temperature of
27C and pressure of 4 atmospheres. Determine
(a) The number of moles of oxygen molecules in the cylinder.
(b) The number of gas molecules.
(c) The mass of the gas.
(d) Density of the gas.
[Given: The molar mass of the gas is 40 g mol
1
].