Preview

The lectures in this unit cover gases. This lecture covers the Ideal Gas Law and partial pressures.

Ideal Gas Law

In our previous lecture we discovered a relationship between the pressure, volume, temperature,
and number of moles in gases. After scientists worked out the individual relationships between
pressure, volume, temperature, and the number of moles, it was clear that a single law could
bring all of these individual laws together. This unifying law is called the ideal gas law. An
ideal gas is one which follows the ideal gas law. Not all gases are perfectly ideal in this sense
but most of them are close enough to it that the law applies well.

I. Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law unifies all these independent laws as follows:

PV = nRT
Where P = Pressure, V = Volume, T = Temperature, and n = number of moles.

The remaining value, R, is the constant which makes the rest of these factors work together
mathematically. Once the relationship between all individual factors was found it was trivial to
PV
calculate R: it is the value of nT for any gas since they all act the same way!

There are several numerical values for R depending on which units you are using (atm or torr or
bars, L or mL, Joules (energy) etc). Our class uses this one:

L·atm
R = .0821
mole·K
The ideal gas law helps us calculate variables such as pressure, volume, temperature, or number
of moles without having to make a comparison.

For example, if 3.5 moles O2 has a volume of 27.0 L at a pressure of 1.6 atm, what is the
temperature of the sample?

Here we are given n = 3.5 moles, V = 27.0 L, P = 1.6 atm. We rearrange the ideal gas law to
solve for temperature as follows:

PV (1.6 atm)(27.0 L)
nR = T (3.5 moles)(0.0821 L·atm/mol·K) = 150.3 K
PV = nRT

Ideal Gases 1
I strongly recommend solving for your unknown before plugging in the numbers you know. The
equation is much easier to manipulate before it has a bunch of additional information in it!

If you watch the units you can confirm that they all cancel out except for Kelvin. That gives us a
final temperature of 423.5 ºC. Please note that because the value of the constant R is always
given with pressure units of atm and volume units of L, you must always use units of atm and L
from your pressure and volume in order for them to properly cancel out.

Let’s do another example. Consider: if we have a 500 mL canister which can withstand up to 15
atm of pressure within safety limits, how much gas can it safely carry at room temperature (~ 25
°C)?

For this problem P = 15 atm, V = 500 mL = 0.500 L, and T = 25 °C = 298.15 K. We are solving
for moles, n.

PV (15 atm)(0.500 L)
RT = n (298.15 K)(0.0821 L·atm/mol·K) = 0.306 mol
PV = nRT

Note that my first order of business was to convert the units to standard: I had to convert 500 mL
to 0.500 L and 25 C to 298 K: otherwise the units given for R would not properly have canceled
out.

II. Gases in Reactions

We previously used stoichiometry to compare moles and masses of products and reactants within
chemical reactions. Now we can integrate what we know about gases and what we can calculate
using mole and mass ratios. This works because the ideal gas law is used to calculate moles of a
gas and because moles of a gas can be used to calculate other pressure, volume, or temperature
conditions using the ideal gas law.

For example, consider the following reaction:

2Na(s) + 2H2O(l)
2NaOH(aq) + H2(g)

If we react 3.4 grams of solid sodium with water, how many liters of hydrogen gas will we
collect from this reaction at 25.3 °C and 1.05 atm pressure?

We already know how to convert from grams of Na to moles of H2 from our lecture on
stoichiometry. And we know how to calculate the volume of a gas if we are given the number of
moles, temperature, and pressure by using the ideal gas law. Now we just put the two together!

Ideal Gases 2
First, complete the stoichiometry calculation. We need the molar mass of sodium: the periodic
table gives it at 22.98 g/mole. We also need the molar ratio of the sodium to hydrogen in the
reaction: the coefficients tell us the 2 moles of Na react to form 1 mole of H2 or 2 moles Na = 1
mole H2.

3.4 g Na 1 mole Na 1 mole H2

* * = 0.0739 moles H2
22.98 g Na 2 moles Na

Once we have moles of gas, we can plug that into our ideal gas law to calculate the volume of
gas collected. To do this we must rearrange the ideal gas law to solve for volume, V:

nRT (0.739 moles H2)(0.0821 L·atm/mol·K)(298.45 K)

PV = nRT =V = 17.2 L H2
P 1.05 atm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take a minute to complete your Gas Laws worksheet section IV. This has you
solve two ideal gas problems and two others in context of a chemical reaction.
Be sure to solve for your variable before you plug numbers in, and always use
units of atmospheres, liters, and Kelvin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Mixtures of Gases: Partial Pressures

The Ideal Gas law shows us that the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to the number of
moles at a constant volume and temperature. We say that for any gas at a constant volume and
temperature:

P~n
This is because pressure is the force exerted on an area from particle collisions. The more moles
of gas you have in the same volume at the same temperature, the more collisions will occur.

Because all gases follow the same laws and behave in the same way this is also true of mixtures!
The total pressure (PTOT) exerted by the mixture is directly proportional to the total number of
moles of gases (nTOT) in that mixture. This remains true while the pressure exerted from each
component gas A, B, and C (PA, PB, PC, etc.) is still proportional to the number of moles of each
of those gases (nA, nB, nC, etc.). We represent these relationships like so:

PTOT ~ nTOT and PA ~ n A

Ideal Gases 3
If we divide the pressure exerted by component gas A by the total pressure in the mixture, we get
the pressure fraction of component A. This is equal to the mole fraction of component A, which
is the number of moles of A divided by the total number of moles:

n A PA
=
ntot Ptot
In other words, the fraction or % of the pressure exerted by any one gas in a mixture is equal to
the fraction or % of moles of that gas in the mixture. Consider the following figure:

In this gas sample we have 10 total gas particles: 5 of them are red gas particles, 3 of them are
blue gas particles, and 2 of them are green gas molecules. The mole fraction of each of these is
5/10 red (50%), 3/10 blue (30%) and 2/10 green (20%)

We predict that 5 out of every 10 collisions on the interior surface of this container originates
from a red gas particle, because that is the statistical distribution of the red gas particles. 3/10
collisions come from the blue gas particles. And 2/10 collisions come from the green gas
particles. Since pressure is collisions, clearly the pressure fraction contributed by any one color
particle is the same as the molecular fraction of that color particle.

Let’s apply this to a real world principle so you can see how this works. For example, we know
that the atmospheric pressure at sea level is 1.0 atm and the natural distribution of gases in our
atmosphere is approximately 78% N2, 21% O2, and 1% Ar.

We predict that of the total 1 atm pressure, 78% comes PN2 .78 atm 0.78 moles nN2
from N2, 21% comes from O2, and 1% comes from Ar. So
PO2 .21 atm 0.21 moles nO2
N2 contributes a total of 0.78 atm to the total. We call this
the partial pressure exerted by N2 gas because it is part of PAr .01 atm 0.01 moles nAr
the total pressure represented. The partial pressure of O2 is PTOT 1 atm 1 mole nTOT
0.21 atm. Ar has a partial pressure of 0.01 atm.

Ideal Gases 4
As another example, consider an oxygen tent used to treat patients who suffer from respiratory
disorders. What is the pressure exerted by the oxygen in the tent if the mole fraction of oxygen
is 45% and the total pressure is 753 mm Hg?

The pressure fraction of the oxygen in the tent must be 45% of the total pressure because it
represents 45% of the total gas particles. We can solve for the pressure exerted by the oxygen by
multiplying the total pressure by 45%:

PO2 = (753 mm Hg)(0.45) = 339 mm Hg

If we want to use the equation on the previous page to solve the problem, we need only
nA
recognize that the mole fraction
ntot = 0.45. This must equal the pressure fraction, so we get the
following:

nA P A PO2
ntot = Ptot 0.45 = 753 mm Hg PO2 = (753 mm Hg)(0.45) = 339 mm Hg

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take a minute to complete your Gas Laws worksheet section V. This has you
solve several partial pressure problems. Draw a picture if you have a hard time
visualizing this, it helps!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For discussion:

Research one of the following and come talk about it on the discussion
boards:

A) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been gaining ground as a method for treating a small and
varied list of disorders and diseases. Describe the therapy. Find a sickness on the list and
explain how the therapy helps the body to heal. Are there any contraindications for this kind of
procedure?

B) Henry’s Law describes the solubility of a gas in a liquid solution. It states that the solubility
of any gas in liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of that gas on the surface of
that liquid, or the partial pressure of the gas in the air above it. Using your knowledge of
equilibrium and Henry’s law, describe on a molecular level what happens to the carbonation in a
soft drink when it is left open. How might you re-carbonate it after it has gone flat?

Ideal Gases 5