Combined Gas Law

The combined gas law combines the

three gas laws: Boyle's Law, Charles'
Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law. It states
that the ratio of the product of
pressure and volume and the
absolute temperature of a gas is equal
to a constant. When Avogadro's law is
added to the combined gas law, the
ideal gas law results. Unlike the
named gas laws, the combined gas
law doesn't have an official
discoverer. It is simply a combination
of the other gas laws that works when
everything except temperature,
pressure, and volume are held
constant.
There are a couple of common
equations for writing the combined
gas law. The classic law relates Boyle's
law and Charles' law to state:
PV/T = k
where P = pressure, V = volume, T =
absolute temperature (Kelvin), and k
= constant.
The constant k is a true constant if the
number of moles of the gas doesn't
change. Otherwise, it varies.
Another common formula for the
combined gas law relates "before and
after" conditions of a gas:
P1V1 / T1 = P2V2 / T2

Example:
Find the volume of a gas at STP when
2.00 liters is collected at 745.0 mm Hg
and 25.0 degrees Celsius.

To solve the problem, you first need

to identify which formula to use. In
this case, the question asks about
conditions at STP, so you know you're
dealing with a "before and after"
problem. Next, you need to
understand STP. If you haven't
memorized this already (and you
probably should, since it appears a
lot), STP refers to "standard
temperature and pressure," which is
273 Kelvin and 760.0 mm Hg.
Because the law works using absolute
temperature, you need to convert
25.0 degrees Celsius to the Kelvin
scale. This gives you 298 Kelvin.

At this point, you can plug the values

into the formula and solve for the
unknown. A common mistake some
people make when they're new to
this kind of problem is confusing
which numbers go together. It's good
practice to identify the variables. In
this problem they are:
P1 = 745.0 mm Hg
V1 = 2.00 L
T1 = 298 K
P2 = 760.0 mm Hg
V2 = x (the unknown you're solving
for)
T2 = 273 K
Next, take the formula and set it up to
solve for the unknown "x," which in
this problem is V2:

P1V1 / T1 = P2V2 / T2
Cross-multiply to clear the fractions:

P1V1T2 = P2V2T1
Divide to isolate V2:

V2 = (P1V1T2) / (P2T1)
Plug in the numbers and solve for V2:

V2 = (745.0 mm Hg · 2.00 L · 273 K) /

(760 mm Hg · 298 K)
V2 = 1.796 L
Report the result using the correct
number of significant figures:

V2 = 1.80 L
Ideal Gas Law
The ideal gas law is an equation of
state the describes the behavior of an
ideal gas and also a real gas under
conditions of ordinary temperature
and low pressure. This is one of the
most useful gas laws to know because
it can be used to find pressure,
volume, number of moles, or
temperature of a gas.
The formula for the ideal gas law is:
PV = nRT
P = pressure
V = volume
n = number of moles of gas
R = ideal or universal gas constant =
0.08 L atm / mol K
T = absolute temperature in Kelvin

Sometimes, you may use another

version of the ideal gas law:
PV = NkT
where:
N = number of molecules
k = Boltzmann constant = 1.38066 x
10-23 J/K = 8.617385 x 10-5 eV/K

Example:
One of the easiest applications of the
ideal gas law is to find the unknown
value, given all the others.
6.2 liters of an ideal gas is contained
at 3.0 atm and 37 °C. How many
moles of this gas are present?

Solution
The ideal gas law states
PV = nRT
Because the units of the gas constant
are given using atmospheres, moles,
and Kelvin, it's important to make
sure you convert values given in other
temperature or pressure scales. For
this problem, convert °C temperature
to K using the equation:
T = °C + 273
T = 37 °C + 273
T = 310 K
Now, you can plug in the values. Solve
ideal gas law for the number of moles
n = PV / RT

n = ( 3.0 atm x 6.2 L ) / ( 0.08 L atm

/mol K x 310 K)
n = 0.75 mol

Answer
There are 0.75 mol of the ideal gas
present in the system.

Laws Of Diffusion
law is a gas law which relates the rate
of diffusion or effusion of a gas to its
molar mass. Diffusion is the process
of slowly mixing two gases together.
Effusion is the process that occurs
when a gas is permitted to escape its
container through a small opening.
law states that the rate at which a gas
will effuse or diffuse is inversely
proportional to the square root of the
molar masses of the gas. This means
light gasses effuse/diffuse quickly and
heavier gases effuse/diffuse slowly.
This example problem uses Graham's
law to find how much faster one gas
effuses than another.

Example:
Gas X has a molar mass of 72 g/mol
and Gas Y has a molar mass of 2
g/mol. How much faster or slower
does Gas Y effuse from a small
opening than Gas X at the same
temperature?

Solution:
Graham's Law can be expressed as:
rX(MMX)1/2 = rY(MMY)1/2
where
rX = rate of effusion/diffusion of Gas X
MMX = molar mass of Gas X
rY = rate of effusion/diffusion of Gas Y
MMY = molar mass of Gas Y
We want to know how much faster or
slower Gas Y effuses compared to Gas
X. To get this value, we need the ratio
of the rates of Gas Y to Gas X. Solve
the equation for rY/rX.

rY/rX = (MMX)1/2/(MMY)1/2
rY/rX = [(MMX)/(MMY)]1/2
Use the given values for molar masses
and plug them into the equation:

rY/rX = [(72 g/mol)/(2)]1/2

rY/rX = [36]1/2
rY/rX = 6
Note that the answer is a pure
number. In other words, the units
cancel out. What you get is how many
times faster or slower gas Y effuses
compared to gas X.

Law of Partial Pressure

Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures, or
Dalton's Law, states that the total
pressure of a gas in a container is the
sum of the partial pressures of the
individual gases in the container. Here
is a worked example problem showing
how to use Dalton's Law to calculate
the pressure of a gas.
Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures is a
gas law that can be stated:

Ptotal = P1 + P2 + P3 + ... Pn
where P1, P2, P3, Pn are the partial
pressures of the individual gases in
the mixture.

Example:
The pressure of a mixture of nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, and oxygen is 150
kPa. What is the partial pressure of
oxygen if the partial pressures of the
nitrogen and carbon dioxide are 100
kPA and 24 kPa, respectively?

For this example, you can simply plug

the numbers into the equation and
solve for the unknown quantity.

P = Pnitrogen + Pcarbon dioxide +

Poxygen
150 kPa = 100 kPa + 24 kPa + Poxygen
Poxygen = 150 kPa - 100 kPa - 24 kPa

Poxygen = 26 kPa

Gas stoichimetry
Stoichiometry is the quantitative
study of the relative amounts of
reactants and products in chemical
reactions; gas stoichiometry involves
chemical reactions that produce
gases. Stoichiometry is based on the
law of conservation of mass, meaning
that the mass of the reactants must
be equal to the mass of the products.
This assumption can be used to solve
for unknown quantities of reactants
or products. Stoichiometric
calculations involving gases allow us
to convert between mass, number of
moles, and most importantly, volume
of gases.

Example:
the decomposition of Hydrogen
Peroxide to water and oxygen gas
If 4.000 grams of hydrogen peroxide is
placed within a sealed 250 milliliter
container at 500 K. What is the
pressure of the oxygen gas produced
in atmospheres?
2H2O2→2H2O+O2

SOLUTION
First, we need to determine the moles
of O2O2
produced, just like any other
stoichiometric problem.

(4gH2O2)x(1molH2O234.016gH2O2)(
1molO22molH2O2)=0.0588molO2
With the moles of oxygen
determined, we can now use the Ideal
Gas Law to determine the pressure.
PV=nRT
The volume (250 mL = 0.25 L) and
temperature (500 K) are already given
to us, and R (0.0820574 Latm mol-1K-
1) is a constant.
P=nRTV
P=(0.0588molO2)×(0.0820Latmmol−1
K−1)×(500K)
0.25L=9.65atm