CHEMISTRY QUIZ

An Overview of the Physical States of Matter

Distinguishing gases from solids and liquids:

• Gas volume changes significantly with pressure
- Solid and liquid volumes are not greatly affected by pressure.
• Gas volume changes significantly with temperature
- Gases expand when heated and shrink when cooled
- The volume change is 50 to 100 times greater for gases than for liquids and solids
• Gases flow very freely
• Gases have relatively low densities
• Gases form a solution in any proportions
- Gases are freely miscible with each other

Pressure is the force exerted on a given area,

F
P=
A
Atmospheric pressure arises from the force exerted by atmospheric gases on the Earth’s surface.
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude.

The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa), named after Blaise Pascal, a French scientist who studied pressure: 1
Pa = 1 N /m 2. A related pressure unit is the bar: 1 bar = 105 Pa = 105 N /m2. Another pressure unit is pounds per
square inch (psi, lbs/¿2). At sea level, atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi.

Evangelista Torricelli invented the barometer, which is made from a glass tube more than 760 mm long that is
closed at one end, completely filled with mercury, and inverted into a dish of mercury.

Standard atmospheric pressure, which corresponds to the typical pressure at sea

level, is the pressure sufficient to support a column of mercury 760 mm high. In SI
units, this pressure is 1.01325 x 105 Pa.

Standard atmospheric pressure defines some common non-SI units used to express gas pressure, such as the
atmosphere (atm) and the millimeter of mercury (mm Hg). The latter unit is also called the torr, after Torricelli:
1 torr = 1 mm Hg.
The Gas Laws

The Pressure-Volume Relationship: Boyle’s Law

Boyle’s law states that the volume of a fixed quantity of gas maintained at constant temperature is inversely
proportional to the pressure.

The Pressure-Volume Relationship: Boyle’s Law

1
P∝ 
V
At fixed T and n,
P decreases as V increases
P increases as V decreases
P1 V 1=P2 V 2

The Temperature-Volume Relationship: Charles’ Law and Gay-Lussac’s Law

Charles’ law states that the volume of a fixed amount of gas maintained at
constant pressure is directly proportional to its absolute temperature.

The Temperature-Volume Relationship: Charles’ Law and Gay-Lussac’s Law

V ∝  T
At fixed P and n,
V decreases as T decreases
V increases as T increases
V1 V2
=
T1 T2

The Temperature-Volume Relationship: Charles’ Law and Gay-Lussac’s Law

P ∝  T
P 1 P2
=
T1 T 2

The Volume-Amount Relationship: Avogadro’s Law

Avogadro’s law states that the volume of a gas maintained at constant temperature and pressure is directly
proportional to the number of moles of the gas.
V ∝  n
V1 V2
=
n1 n 2

The Ideal Gas Equation

We can combine all three expressions to form a single master equation for the behavior of gases:
nT
V ∝ 
P
nT
V =R
P
or
PV =nRT
This is the ideal gas equation, which describes the relationship among the four variables P, V, T, and n. An ideal
gas is a hypothetical gas whose pressure-volume-temperature behavior can be completely accounted for by the
ideal gas equation. No ideal gas actually exists, but most simple gases behave nearly ideally at ordinary
temperatures and pressures.

Gas Behavior at Standard Conditions

STP or Standard Temperature and Pressure specifies a pressure of 1 atm (760 torr) and a temperature of 0°C
(273 K).
Experiments show that under these conditions, 1 mole of an ideal gas occupies 22.414 L, which is somewhat
greater than the volume of a basketball.

Gas Densities and Molar Mass

We can arrange the ideal gas equation to obtain similar units of moles per unit volume:
n P
=
V RT
If we multiply both sides of this equation by the molar mass, M, we obtain
nM PM
d= =
V RT
This equation tells us that the density of a gas depends on its pressure, molar mass,
and temperature. The higher the molar mass and pressure, the denser the gas. The higher the temperature, the
less dense the gas.

Gas Stoichiometry
It is useful to be able to calculate the volumes of gases consumed or produced in reactions. Such calculations
are based on the mole concept and balanced chemical equations.

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressure

John Dalton made an important observation that “The total pressure of a mixture of gases equals the sum
pressures that each would exert if it were present alone.”.
The pressure exerted by a particular component of a mixture of gases is called the partial pressure of that
component. Dalton’s observation is known as Dalton’s law of partial pressures.
If we let PT be the total pressure of a mixture of gases and P1, P2, P3, and so forth
be the partial pressures of the individual gases, we can write Dalton’s law of partial
pressures as:
PT =P1+ P 2+ P3 + …