Section 1 Gases and Pressure

Chapter 11

Objectives

1. Forces and pressure.

1. Measuring the pressure.

1. Dalton’s law of partial pressures.

 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Pressure and Force

• Pressure (P) the force per unit area on a surface.
Pressure = Force/Area
• Gas pressure is caused by collisions of the gas molecules
with each other and with surfaces with which they come
into contact. The greater the number of collisions of gas
molecules, the higher the pressure will be.

• The pressure exerted by a gas depends on:

1.Volume.
2.Temperature.
3.The number of molecules present.
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

•The SI unit for force is the Newton.

•Newton (N): the force that will increase the speed of a one-
kilogram mass by one meter per second each second that
the force is applied.
Force= Mass x Acceleration
•Ex: consider a person with a mass of 51 kg standing on 325
cm2 area of the floor. At Earth’s surface, gravity has an
acceleration of 9.8 m/s2.

•Force = 51 × 9.8 = 500 kg • m/s2 = 500 N

•Pressure = 500 ÷ 325 = 1.5 N/cm2
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Pressure = Force/Area

•The greater the force on a given area, the greater the

pressure.
•The smaller the area is on which a given force acts, the
greater the pressure.
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

•Torricelli (the inventor of barometer) noticed that water pumps

could raise water only to a maximum height of about 34 feet.
And he thought that this height must depend somehow on the
weight of water compared with the weight of air.

•So he reasoned that if the maximum height of a water column

depended on its weight, then mercury, which is about 14 times
as dense as water, could be raised only about 1/14 as high as
water.

•He tested this idea by sealing a long glass tube at one end and
filling it with mercury. Inverting the tube into a dish of mercury,
the mercury rose to a height of about 760 mm, which is about
1/14 of 34 feet. Foot = 304.8 mm
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11
• Barometer: device used to measure atmospheric pressure.
• Manometer: device used to measure the pressure of an
enclosed gas sample.
• Atmospheric pressure: the pressure exerted by the air shell
surrounding Earth. It is the summation of the individual
pressure of the various gases in the atmosphere.
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Unit Symbol Definition Notes

Pascal Pa The pressure exerted by a • SI unit of pressure.
force of one newton (1 N) • very small unit of
acting on an area of one pressure so it replaced
square meter. with kilopascals (kPa)
Millimeter of Mm Hg The pressure that supports
mercury a 1 mm mercury column in
the barometer
Torr torr 1 torr = 1 mm Hg
Atmosphere atm The average atmospheric 1 atm =
pressure at sea level at 10.1 N/cm2
0°C 101.325 kPa.
760 mm Hg
760 torr

Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) is 1 atm and 0°C

 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Sample Problem A
The average atmospheric pressure in Denver, Colorado
is 0.830 atm. Express this pressure in
a. millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)
b. kilopascals (kPa)
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Sample Problem A Solution

Given: atmospheric pressure = 0.830 atm
Unknown: a. pressure in mm Hg
b. pressure in kPa
Solution:

a. 1 atm = 760 mm Hg
0.83 atm = 760 x 0.83 = 630.8 mmHg

b. 1 atm = 101.325 kPa

0.83 atm = 101.325 x 0.83 = 84.09 kPa
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures

• Partial pressure: The pressure of each gas in a mixture.

• John Dalton, the English chemist who proposed the

atomic theory, discovered that the pressure exerted by
each gas in a mixture is independent of that exerted by
other gases present.

• Dalton’s law of partial pressures: the total pressure of

a gas mixture is the sum of the partial pressures of the
component gases.
PT is total pressure
PT = P1 + P2 + P3 + …..
P1, P2, P3 is partial pressure
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

•Gases produced in the

laboratory are often
collected over water. The
gas produced by the
reaction displaces the water
in the reaction bottle.
•Water molecules at the
liquid surface evaporate
and mix with the gas
molecules. Water vapor,
like other gases, exerts a
pressure known as vapor
pressure.
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

• To determine the pressure of a gas inside a collection

bottle, you would use the following equation, which is
an instance of Dalton’s law of partial pressures.
Patm = Pgas + PH2O

• Patm is the barometric reading of atmospheric pressure.

• PH2O is vapor pressure given from experiment table

according to corresponding temperature.
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Sample Problem B
Oxygen gas from the decomposition of potassium
chlorate, KClO3, was collected by water displacement.
The barometric pressure and the temperature during the
experiment were 731.0 torr and 20.0°C. respectively.
What was the partial pressure of the oxygen collected?
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11
 Section 1 Gases and Pressure
Chapter 11

Sample Problem B Solution

Given: PT = Patm = 731.0 torr
PH O = 17.5 torr
2

Patm = PO  PH O
2 2

Unknown: PO in torr
2

Solution:
start with the equation: Patm  PO2  PH2O

rearrange algebraically to: PO2  Patm  PH2O

PO2 = 731- 17.5 = 713.5 torr