Gas Mixtures

A pure substance is defined as a substance having a constant and uniform chemical composition. A homogeneous
mixture of gases which do not react with one another may, therefore, be considered a pure substance.

There are two ways to describe the composition of a mixture: either by specifying the number of moles of each
component, called molar analysis, or by specifying the mass of each component, called gravimetric analysis.
mass of the mixture −
𝑘

m𝑚 = ∑ m𝑖
𝑖=1

mole number of the mixture Nm -

N𝑚 = ∑ 𝑁𝑖
𝑖=1

mass fraction mf-

m𝑖
𝑚𝑓 =
𝑚𝑚

mole fraction

N𝑖
𝑦𝑖 =
𝑁𝑚

Dalton’s law- The pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial
pressures of the constituents.
— The partial pressure of each constituent is that pressure which the gas would exert
if it occupied alone that volume occupied by the mixtures at the same temperature.
By the consideration of mass,
m = mA + mB
By Dalton’s law, p = pA + pB

Gibbs-Dalton law
Dalton’s law was re-formulated by Gibbs to include a second statement on the properties of mixtures. The combined
statement is known as the Gibbs-Dalton law- — The internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy of a gaseous mixture are
respectively equal to the sums of the internal energies, enthalpies, and entropies, of the constituents. — Each
constituent has that internal energy, enthalpy and entropy, which it could have if it occupied alone that volume
occupied by the mixture at the temperature of the mixture. This statement leads to the following equations :
mu = mAuA + mAuB + ...... or mu = Σ miui

mh = mAhA + mBhB + ...... or mh = Σ mihi

ms = mAsA + mBsB + ...... or ms = Σ misi

Figure - Properties of air (For approximate calculations the air is said to be composed of oxygen and ‘atmospheric
nitrogen’.) Gas constant R = 0.287 kJ/kg K Mean molecular weight of air = 28.96
Amagat’s law or Leduc’s law- According to Avogadro’s law, the number of moles of any gas is proportional to the
volume of the gas at a given pressure and temperature
Mole n =m / M where, n = Number of moles,
m = Mass of gas, and
M = Molecular weight.
n = nA + nB + nC = Σ ni

The Apparent (or average) Molecular Weight

An apparent molecular weight is defined by the equation
M=m/n where, m = Mass of the mixture, and
n = Number of moles of mixture.

𝑚𝑖 𝑚𝑖
The apparent gas constant - R =R0 / M 𝑅= ∑ 𝑅𝑖 = mass fraction of a constituent.
𝑚 𝑚

SPECIFIC HEATS OF A GAS MIXTURE

𝑚𝑖 𝑚𝑖 𝑚𝑖
𝑐𝑝 = ∑ 𝑐𝑝𝑖 cp – cv = R 𝑐𝑣 = ∑ 𝑐𝑣𝑖 𝑐𝑝 − 𝑐𝑣 = ∑ 𝑅𝑖
𝑚 𝑚 𝑚

In problems on mixtures it is often convenient to work in moles and the specific heats can be expressed in terms of
the mole. These are known as molar heats, and are denoted by Cp and Cv.
Molar heats are defined as follows:
Cp = Mcp and Cv = Mcv

Because, m/M = n

By the Gibbs-Dalton law,