Chemistry Lab Manual – SK015

EXPERIMENT 4: CHARLES’ LAW AND THE IDEAL GAS LAW

Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

i. verify Charles’ Law.
ii. determine the molar mass of a volatile liquid.

Introduction

Charles’ Law states that the volume of a fixed mass of a given gas is
directly proportional to its absolute temperature at constant pressure. The law
is written as

V  T (n, P constant)

In this experiment, a quantity of air is trapped between the sealed end of a

thick-walled glass tube (with a small cross-sectional area) and a movable
plug of mercury. If the glass tube is held upright, the plug of mercury will
move to a position where the pressure of the air in the tube is equal to the
atmospheric pressure and a small pressure exerted by the plug. Thus, the
pressure of the trapped air is constant.

The volume, V, of the trapped air is obtained by multiplying the cross-

sectional area of the tube, A, with the height of the air column, h.

V= A x h

Assuming that the cross-sectional area is constant, the volume is directly

proportional to the height, i.e., V  h. Therefore, the height of the air column
can be used as a measure of the volume in this experiment. By measuring
this height at different temperatures we can determine the relationship
between the volume of the trapped air and its temperature at constant
pressure.

Ideal Gas Equation:

By combining the relationships govern by the gas laws, a general equation

known as the ideal gas equation can be obtained.

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Boyle’s Law
Volume of a fixed mass of a given gas is inversely proportional to its
pressure at constant temperature.
1
V  (n, T constant)
p

Avogadro’s Principle
All gases of equal volume will contain the same number of molecules at the
constant temperature and pressure.

V  n (T, P constant)
Charles’ Law
Volume of a fixed mass of a given gas is directly proportional to its absolute
temperature at constant pressure.

V  T (n, P constant)

Thus, combining the three laws, we get

nT
V 
p

The above expression can be written as

RnT
V = or PV = nRT ...........(1)
P

This is the ideal gas equation and R is called the gas constant. The number of
moles, n,
mass
n =
Molar mass, Mr

Therefore, the ideal gas equation can also be written as

RT
PV = m ( ) ..........(2)
Mr

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Apparatus Chemical Reagents

Needle Ice
Wire gauze Methanol
Tripod stand Unknown liquid
Rubber band
Thermometer
Bunsen burner
Aluminum foil
Analytical balance
Barometer
Retort stand and clamp
Charles’ law apparatus
600 mL beaker
100 mL conical flask
100 mL measuring cylinder
Stopwatch

Procedure

(A) Charles’ Law

1. Tie a thermometer to a glass tube containing a plug of

mercury with a rubber band. The bulb of the thermometer is
placed approximately half-way up the column of the trapped
air as shown in Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1
Charles’ law apparatus

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2. Fill a 100 mL measuring cylinder with tap water. Place the

tube and the thermometer into the water until the air column
in the tube is immersed.

3. Leave for 5 minutes to ensure that the temperature of the

trapped air is equivalent to the temperature of the tap water.

4. Record the temperature and measure the height of the air

column.

5. Repeat Steps 2 until 4 using:

i. warm water (40 – 50°C)

ii. a mixture of ice and water
iii. a mixture of ice and 5 mL methanol

NOTE: Ensure that the mercury plug does not split into small
droplets.

(B) Determination of the molar mass of a gas

1. Cover a 100 mL conical flask with a piece of aluminium foil

and tie it loosely around the neck with a rubber band as shown
in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3

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2. Prick a tiny hole in the middle of the foil with a needle.

3. Weigh the apparatus accurately.

4. Remove the foil and place 5.0 mL of the unknown liquid into
the flask.

5. Replace the foil and tie it with a rubber band.

6. Clamp the neck of the flask and immerse it into a 600 mL

beaker containing water as shown in Figure 4.3.

7. Heat the water until all of the unknown liquid in the flask has
vaporised.

8. Record the temperature of the water bath when all the

unknown liquid has evaporated.

9. Take out the flask immediately by using the clamp.

10. Wipe the outer wall of the flask and the aluminium foil when
the flask is cooled.

11. Weigh the flask with the aluminium foil, rubber band and the
condensed unknown liquid.

12. Discard both the foil and the condensed liquid. Fill the flask
up to the brim with water and pour it into a measuring
cylinder. Record the volume of water.

13. Record the barometric pressure.

14. Calculate the molar mass of the unknown liquid using the
ideal gas equation.

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DATA SHEET

EXPERIMENT 4: CHARLES’ LAW AND THE IDEAL GAS LAW

RESULT

(A) Charles’ law

TABLE 1

Volume
Temperature
Condition (Height of gas column)
(0C)
(mm)
Warm water
Tap water
Ice-water
Ice-methanol

1. Complete TABLE 1.

2. Plot the height of the column, h, against temperature, T, in celsius on a

graph paper. Based on the graph, state the relationship between volume
and temperature.

3. Extrapolate the line until h = 0, to obtain the absolute zero temperature.

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(B) Determination of the molar mass of the gas

TABLE 2

No Item Reading
1. Mass of flask + rubber band + cover (g)
Mass of flask + rubber band + cover + condensed
2.
liquid (g)
3. Mass of condensed liquid (g)
4. Temperature of water bath (oC)
5. Barometric pressure (mm Hg)
6. Volume of flask (mL)

4. Complete TABLE 2.

5. Calculate the molar mass of the unknown liquid.

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