RELATED

How to Find Partial Pressures

Updated August 07, 2017

By Ryan Menezes

When a gas pipe has a hole or a break in it, the pipe leaks gas continuously. The rate of
this gas flow depends on two factors. A larger pressure of gas produces a larger force
expelling the gas. A larger hole provides a greater area over which that pressure can act.
You can determine the gas pressure, if you don't know it, using a pressure gauge. To
factor in the area, consider the hole's diameter if it is round or estimate its approximate
diameter otherwise.

Add 14.4 to the pipe's pressure, measured in pounds per square inch, to convert it to
absolute pressure. If, for instance, the pressure is 27 pounds per square inch: 27 + 14.4 =
41.4 pounds per square inch.

Square the diameter of the hole in the pipe. If, for instance, the pipe has a break that
measures 0.75 inches in diameter: 0.75 ^ 2 = 0.5625 square inches.

Multiply together the answers to Step 1 and Step 2: 41.4 x 0.5625 = 23.29.

Multiply the answer by 1,000, a conversion constant: 23.29 x 1,000 = 23,290 cubic feet of
gas per hour.

References

About the Author

Photo Credits
CITE THIS ARTICLE
Did you find this page helpful?
👍
👎
Related Articles

 How to Find Partial Pressures

 How to Calculate CFM to MPH
 How to Calculate Flow Rate With Pipe Size and Pressure
 How to Calculate the Temperature Drop Due to a Pressure Drop
 How to Calculate Heat Loss During Pipeline Depressurization
 How to Calculate Steam Velocity
 How to Calculate the Volume of Liquid in a Pipe
 How to Calculate the Fluid Flow Through a Hole in a Pipe
 How to Calculate a Circular Area
 How to Find the Cross Sectional Area of a Pipe
 How to Calculate Volume of a Circular Cylinder
 What Causes Gas Pressure?
 How to Calculate the Area of a Pipe
 What Happens When Gas Is Heated?
 How to Calculate the Area of a Curved Surface
 How to Convert ATM Pressure to Celsius
 How to Calculate the Volume of an Auger
 What Are the Three Most Abundant Gases in the Earth's Atmosphere?
 How to Calculate GPM from PSI for Water
 How to Convert Moles to Pressure

Find Your Next Great Science Fair Project! GO

 Home  ⋅
 Science  ⋅
 Chemistry  ⋅
 Solutions

How to Find Partial Pressures

•••

RELATED

How to Calculate Molar Heat of Vaporization

Updated April 24, 2017

By Morgan Owens

Partial pressure refers to the pressure a gas exerts if kept at a constant temperature in a
fixed amount of space. Scientists cannot measure the partial pressure of a gas; it must be
calculated using the equation derived from Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures. The equation
used to calculate partial pressure: P = (nRT)/V, where P = partial pressure; n = number of
moles of the gas; R = universal gas constant; T = temperature; and V = volume.

Multiply the number of moles of the gas by the universal gas constant. R = 0.08206
(L_atm)/(mol_K).
Multiply the result of your calculation from step one by the temperature of the gas in
kelvins (K).

Divide the result of your calculation from step two by the volume of the gas in liters. Since
gas expands to fill any given container, the volume of the gas is equivalent to the volume
of the container in which it is located.

Record the result of your final calculation. This is the partial pressure of the gas. The unit
used to express partial pressure is the atmosphere (atm).

Tips

References

The cubic feet per minute (CFM) of a gas describes its volumetric flow rate through a pipe
or vent. The volumetric flow is a good measure of how much gas goes through the system,
but it isn't the clearest way of picturing how quickly it moves. To picture this speed,
calculate the linear speed, which simply describes the linear distance that the gas travels
in terms of miles per hour.

Divide the flow rate in cubic feet per minute by the duct's cross-sectional area. If, for
instance, 2,000 cubic feet flow through a duct with a cross-sectional area of 4 square feet
each minute: 2,000 / 4 = 500 feet per minute.

Multiply this answer by 60, the number of minutes in an hour: 500 x 60 = 30,000 feet per
hour.

Divide the answer by 5,280, which is the number of feet in a mile: 30,000 / 5,280 = 5.68.
This is the air's speed in miles per hour.

RELATED

How to Size Gravity Drainage Piping

Updated August 07, 2017

By Ryan Menezes
A higher pressure drop acting on a pipe creates a higher flow rate. A wider pipe also
produces a higher volumetric flow, and a shorter pipe lets a similar pressure drop provide a
greater force. The final factor controlling a pipe's viscosity is the fluid's viscosity. This
factor measures the fluid's thickness in poise, or dyne seconds per square centimeter. A
thicker fluid flows more slowly under the same pressure.

Square the pipe's radius. With a radius, for instance, of 0.05 meters, 0.05 ^ 2 = 0.0025.

Multiply this answer by the pressure drop across the pipe, measured in pascals. With a
pressure drop, for instance, of 80,000 pascals, 0.0025 x 80,000 = 200.

Multiply the constant pi by the answer to Step 1: 3.142 x 0.0025 = 0.00785. This answer is
the pipe's cross-sectional area.

Multiply the area by the answer to Step 2: 0.00785 x 200 = 1.57.

Multiply the pipe's length by 8. With a length, for instance, of 30 meters: 30 x 8 = 240.

Multiply the answer to Step 5 by the fluid's viscosity. If the fluid is water, its viscosity is
0.01, so 240 x 0.01 = 2.4.

Divide the answer to Step 4 by the answer to Step 6: 1.57 / 2.4 = 0.654. The pipe's flow
rate is 0.654 cubic meters per second.

The Ideal Gas Law relates an amount of gas to its pressure, temperature and the volume
that it occupies. Changes that occur in the state of the gas are described by a variation of
this law. This variation, the Combined Gas Law, lets you explore the state of the gas under
different conditions. The Combined Gas Law reduces to the Gay Lussac Law when the gas
volume is fixed. You can use the Gay Lussac Law to relate pressure changes to
temperature changes.

Represent the initial state of the gas with an initial temperature T1 and an initial pressure
P1. P1 is the pressure of the gas before the pressure drop occurs. T1 is the temperature of
the gas before the temperature drops.

Calculate the proportionality constant (k) formed by the ratio of the initial temperature to
the initial pressure. Use the formula: k = T1/P1. For example, if a gas at an initial
temperature of 300 K and an initial pressure of 100 Pa, drops by 50 Pa, the proportionality
constant k = 3 K/Pa = 300/100 = T1/P1.

Multiply the drop in pressure by the proportionality constant k to obtain the drop in
temperature. For example, if a gas at an initial temperature of 300 K and an initial pressure
of 100 Pa, drops by 50 Pa, the change in temperature = 150 K = (3 K/Pa) x (50 Pa) = (k) x
(change in pressure).

Steam is a powerful gas and an effective heating element. To be sure, steam-turned

turbines produce approximately 86 percent of electric power in the United States. From
turning turbines to heating radiators, for as useful as steam can be it is still a vapor
powerful enough to explode pipes and cause serious burns. Calculating the velocity of
steam enables plumbers and steamfitters to gauge the appropriate thickness of pipe
through which to deliver this essential gas.

The velocity of any gas, including steam, is a measure of the flow rate divided by the total
area of the flow.

Determine the rate of flow through a given duct or pipe. This is typically measured in feet
per minute--or more conventionally as ACFM (Actual Cubic Feet per Minute).

Calculating ACFM requires having accurate measurements for pressure, temperature and
humidity of current air conditions. It is calculated using the following formula: ACFM =
[Standard Absolute Air Pressure / (Actual Pressure - Saturation Pressure x Relative
Humidity] (Ambient Temperature / Standard Temperature).

Calculate the flow area. For ducts, this is the width multiplied by the height. For pipes it is
the height of the pipe multiplied by the width of the pipe. The flow area is noted as feet
squared.

Divide the rate of flow by the area of flow. The result should be recorded as feet per
minute. This is the velocity of steam (or any gas for that matter).