Gas laws

physics

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WRITTEN BY
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the
physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the
University of Chicago Press on the...
See Article History

Gas laws, laws that relate the pressure, volume, and temperature of

a gas. Boyle’s law—named for Robert Boyle—states that, at constant
temperature, the pressure P of a gas varies inversely with its volume V,
or PV = k, where k is a constant. Charles’s law—named for J.-A.-C.
Charles (1746–1823)—states that, at constant pressure, the
volume V of a gas is directly proportional to its absolute (Kelvin)
temperature T, or V/T = k. These two laws can be combined to form
the ideal gas law, a single generalization of the behaviour of gases
known as an equation of state, PV = nRT, where n is the number of
gram-moles of a gas and R is called the universal gas constant. Though
this law describes the behaviour of an ideal gas, it closely
approximates the behaviour of real gases. See also Joseph Gay-Lussac.
Boyle's law
Demonstration of Boyle's law showing that for a given mass, at constant temperature, the pressure
times the volume is a constant.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Erik Gregersen

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