Gas Properties 1

Gas Properties

Michael Luna

Dyersburg State Community College

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Introduction

Thermal processes can be complex. Fortunately, they can often be broken down into a

series of simple processes. In this section, the four most common processes will be studied and

illustrated by their effect on an ideal gas. Each process corresponds to making one of the

variables in the ideal gas law a constant or assuming one of the three quantities in the first law of

thermodynamics is zero.
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Procedure

a) What is Boyle’s Law?

Results:​ ​A law stating that the pressure of a given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional
to its volume at a constant temperature.

b) What is an ideal gas?

Results:​ ​the concept of an Ideal gas as an approximation that helps us model and predict
the behavior of real gases. The term ideal gas refers to a hypothetical gas composed of
molecules which follow a few rules: Ideal gas molecules do not attract or repel each
other. The only interaction between ideal gas molecules would be an elastic collision
upon impact with each other or an elastic collision with the walls of the container. Ideal
gas molecules themselves take up no volume. The gas takes up volume since the
molecules expand into a large region of space, but the Ideal gas molecules are
approximated as point particles that have no volume in and of themselves.

c) What is meant by pressure of a gas?

Results​:​Pressure is a force exerted by the substance per unit area on another substance.
The pressure of a gas is the force that the gas exerts on the walls of its container. When
you blow air into a balloon, the balloon expands because the pressure of air molecules is
greater on the inside of the balloon than the outside.

d)​ Explain PV = nRT equation

Results:​A physical law describing the relationship of the measurable properties of an ideal gas,
where P (pressure) × V (volume) = n (number of moles) × R (the gas constant) × T (temperature
in Kelvin). It is derived from a combination of the gas laws of Boyle, Charles, and Avogadro.
Also called universal gas law.
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Discussion/Conclusion

The four processes are called isobaric (constant pressure), adiabatic (no thermal energy

transfer, or ), isovolumetric (constant volume, corresponding to ), and isothermal (constant

temperature, corresponding to ). Naturally, many other processes don’t fall into one of these four

categories, so they will be covered in a fifth category, called a general process. What is essential

in each case is to be able to calculate the three thermodynamic quantities from the first law: the

work , the thermal energy transfer , and the change in the internal energy.

Section 2:

1. An ideal gas expands at a constant pressure of 6.00 10​5​ Pa from a volume of 1.00 m​3​ to a
volume of 4.00 m​3​ and then is compressed to one-third that pressure and a volume of 2.50 m​3​ as
shown in the figure below before returning to its initial state. How much work is done in taking a
gas through one cycle of the process shown in the figure?

Results: ​The base of the triangle is 3m^3.

The latitude of the triangle is 4 x 10^5 Pa.
A=½(B x H)
A=½(3m^2 x 4 x 10^5 Pa)=1,800,000

2. The work done by an engine equals one-fourth the energy it absorbs from a reservoir.

(a) What is its thermal efficiency?

Results: Only 1/4 of the heat/thermal energy is used to run the engine. 1/4 = 0.25

(b) What fraction of the energy absorbed is expelled to the cold reservoir?
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Results: 1/4 of the heat is absorbed by the engine then the rest must be expelled. 1 - 1/4 = 3/4.
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