LESSON: KINETIC MOLECULAR THEORY OF GASES: VOLUME-PRESSURE RELATIONSHIP!

The earth is surrounded by the sea of gases called atmosphere which mainly consists of oxygen,
nitrogen, and other gases that are important to life. Under normal atmospheric condition, there are only
11 elements that are gases. These includes the diatomic molecules (hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine,
and chlorine) and the noble gases (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and argon). These gases have
common properties including important fundamental properties that are measurable, which are
mentioned and described in the recap such as volume, pressure, temperature, and amount of gas or
number of moles.
Scientists have observed some activities involving gases. They found out that the behavior of
gases is determined by the behavior of its individual particle. In 1870, scientists formulated the Kinetic
Molecular Theory (KMT) using a simple model of an ideal gas or a theoretical gas. The particles of an
ideal gas behave consistently and in a predictable manner.
According to the kinetic Molecular Theory of gases, a gas has the following characteristics:
1. Gases consist of very tiny particles, each of which has mass. Gases are most likely empty space
because of a wide distance between these tiny particles. Thus, gases are highly compressible and have
low density. Note that the density of gases varies with changes in temperature and pressure.
2. Gas particles move rapidly in straight lines, travel constantly, and in random directions.
3. Gases diffuse rapidly that allows two or more gases to mix readily when combined.
4. The forces of attraction (Van der Waals Force) between the particles of gases are negligible because of
the wide spaces between them.
5. Gas particles collide with each other or with the walls of its container but do not lose their kinetic
energy; instead, it is only transferred to the lower-energy particle and will continue to move. In this
manner, energy is conserved in an elastic collision of gas particles.
6. All gases have the same average kinetic energy at a given temperature of gas. The average kinetic
energy of gas particles is directly proportional to the absolute temperature of the gas. This means that
gas particles might have higher kinetic energy at a higher temperature or vice versa.

The Kinetic Molecular Theory of gases provides a model to explain behavioral properties of gases.
The four measurable properties of gases such as pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles
are related to each other. If one of these variables is changed, there is a corresponding change in other
variables depending on its relationship. Gas laws are products of various experiments that were done by
scientists many years ago. Boyle’s law explains the relationship between volume and pressure at
constant temperature.

Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish chemist who was able to investigate the relationship between
pressure and volume at constant temperature. He used a J-shaped tube apparatus, which is closed on
one end. In his experiment, he trapped air in the tube with liquid mercury. He measured the volume of
the trapped air and the difference in the heights of the mercury columns in the two arms of the tube. As
he poured successive amounts of mercury into the open end of the tube, he found out that the volume of
the trapped air decreases. In his findings, he expressed the volume readings in cubic inches, and the
pressure in inches of mercury. Then he proposed Boyle’s Law, which states that the volume of a given
mass of gas held at constant temperature is inversely proportional to its pressure.
Figure 1: Boyle’s Law: Volume-Pressure Relationship at Constant Temperature
Figure 1 shows that Boyle’s law refers to a relation concerning the compression and expansion of a gas
at constant temperature. This empirical relation, formulated by the physicist Robert Boyle in 1662, states
that the pressure (p) of a given quantity of gas varies inversely with its volume (v) at constant
temperature.