3.

2 – Modelling a gas
Moles!

Boo!
 Moles!
Equal masses of different elements will
contain different numbers of atoms (as
atoms of different elements have different
masses)
 Moles!
It is sometimes useful for physicists and
chemists (but we don’t care about them) to
compare the number of atoms or
molecules in an amount of substance.
To do this we use the idea of moles.

A chemist
 Moles! You need to learn this
definition.

• One mole of a substance contains the

same number of molecules/atoms as in 12
grams of carbon-12.
• This number (of atoms or molecules) is
known as the Avogadro constant (NA)
which is equal to 6.02 x 1023
 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the floor of this classroom

covered in unpopped popcorn
 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the all the floors in the school

covered in unpopped popcorn
I hope you’re
going to clear it
up!
 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the whole of Warsaw covered in

unpopped popcorn
 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the whole of Poland covered in

unpopped popcorn
 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the whole of Europe covered in

unpopped popcorn

You are here!

 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the whole of Europe covered in

unpopped popcorn to a depth of 12km!

You are here!

 How big is 6.02 x 10 ? 23

Imagine the whole of Europe covered in

unpopped popcorn to a depth of 12 km!
Count the grains and that is 6 x 1023!

600000000000000000000000
That’s how big 6.02 x 1023 is!
 Moles! You need to learn this
definition.

• One mole of a substance contains the

same number of molecules/atoms as in 12
grams of carbon-12.
• This number (of atoms or molecules) is
known as the Avogadro constant (NA)
which is equal to 6.02 x 1023
 Moles!
For example, Hydrogen (H2) has a relative
molecular mass of 2, so 2 grams of
hydrogen (one mole) contains the same
number of molecules as atoms in 12g of
carbon-12 (6.02 x 1023)
 Moles!
It follows therefore that 7g of lithium
(atomic mass 7), 20g neon (atomic mass
20) or 39 g potassium (atomic mass 39) all
contain the same number of atoms (1
mole or 6.02 x 1023 atoms)
 Moles!

• The number of moles of a substance can

thus be found by dividing the mass of
substance by its relative atomic or
molecular mass

n = mass/RAM
 Example
How many moles of sulphur atoms are
there in 80g of sulphur? How many grams
of carbon would have the same number of
atoms?
 Example
How many moles of sulphur atoms are
there in 80g of sulphur? How many grams
of carbon would have the same number of
atoms?

N = mass/RAM = 80/32 = 2.5 moles

 Example
How many moles of sulphur atoms are
there in 80g of sulphur? How many grams
of carbon would have the same number of
atoms?

N = mass/RAM = 80/32 = 2.5 moles

Mass of carbon = RAM x n = 12 x 2.5 = 30 g

The kinetic theory of gases and the
gas laws
 Kinetic theory/ideal gas
We can understand the behaviour of
gases using a very simple model, that of
an “ideal” gas.

The model makes a

few simple assumptions;
 Ideal gas assumptions
• The particles of gas (atoms or molecules)
obey Newton’s laws of motion.
You should know these
by now!
 Ideal gas assumptions
• The particles in a gas move with a range
of speeds
 Ideal gas assumptions
• The volume of the individual gas particles
is very small compared to the volume of
the gas
 Ideal gas assumptions
• The collisions between the particles and
the walls of the container and between the
particles themselves are elastic (no kinetic
energy lost)
 Ideal gas assumptions
• There are no forces between the particles
(except when colliding). This means that
the particles only have kinetic energy (no
potential)
Do you remember what internal
energy is?
 Ideal gas assumptions
• The duration of a collision is small
compared to the time between collisions.
 Pressure – A reminder
Pressure is defined as the normal
(perpendicular) force per unit area

P = F/A

It is measured in Pascals, Pa (N.m-2)

 Pressure – A reminder
What is origin of the pressure of a gas?
 Pressure – A reminder
Collisions of the gas particles with the side
of a container give rise to a force, which
averaged of billions of collisions per
second macroscopically is measured as
the pressure of the gas

Change of
momentum
Let’s start by investigating gas
behaviour
 3.2 Pressure law practical
When we heat a gas at constant volume,
what happens to the pressure? Why?

Let’s do it!
 3.2 Boyle’s law practical
When we compress
(reduce the volume)
a gas at constant
temperature, what
happens to the
pressure? Why?

Let’s do it!
 The behaviour of gases
http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/ideal-gas/gas-properties.jnlp

When we heat a gas at constant volume,

what happens to the pressure? Why?

P α T (if T is in
Kelvin)
 The behaviour of gases
When we compress
(reduce the volume)
a gas at constant
temperature, what
happens to the
pressure? Why?

pV = constant
 The behaviour of gases
When we heat a gas a constant pressure,
what happens to its volume? Why?
 The behaviour of gases
When we heat a gas a constant pressure,
what happens to its volume? Why?

V α T (if T is in
Kelvin)
 Explaining the behaviour of
gases
In this way we are explaining the
macroscopic behaviour of a gas (the
quantities that can be measured like
temperature, pressure and volume) by
looking at its microscopic behaviour (how
the individual particles move)
 Note
• Real gases do behave approximately as
ideal gases at high temperatures and low
pressures (why?)

• At high pressures and low temperatures

real gases do NOT behave ideally (why?).
 The gas laws
We have found experimentally that;
At constant temperature, the pressure of
a fixed mass of gas is inversely
proportional to its volume.
p α 1/V or pV = constant
This is known as Boyle’s or Mariotte’s law
 The gas laws

At constant pressure, the volume of a

fixed mass of gas is proportional to its
temperature;

VαT or V/T = constant

If T is in Kelvin
This is known as Charle’s law
 The gas laws
At constant volume, the pressure
of a fixed mass of gas is
proportional to its temperature;

pαT or p/T = constant

This is known as the Pressure lawIf T is in Kelvin
(Gay-Lussac’s law)
 The equation of state
By combining these three laws
pV = constant
V/T = constant
p/T = constant Remember, T
must be in
We get pV/T = constant Kelvin

Or p1V1 = p2V2
T1 T2
 An example
At the top of Mount Everest the temperature is
around 250K, with atmospheric pressure around
3.3 x 104 Pa. At sea level these values are 300K
and 1.0 x 105 Pa respectively. If the density of air
at sea level is 1.2 kg.m-3, what is the density of
the air on Mount Everest?

“Physics”, Patrick Fullick, Heinemann

 An example
At the top of Mount Everest the temperature is around 250K, with atmospheric
pressure around 3.3 x 104 Pa. At seas level these values are 300K and 1.0 x 10 5 Pa
respectively. If the density of air at sea level is 1.2 kg.m -3, what is the density of the air
on Mount Everest?

Take 1kg of air at sea level

Volume = mass/density = 1/1.2 = 0.83 m3.

Therefore at sea level

p1 = 1.0 x 105 Pa, V1 = 0.83 m3, T1 = 300K.

 An example
At the top of Mount Everest the temperature is around 250K, with atmospheric
pressure around 3.3 x 104 Pa. At seas level these values are 300K and 1.0 x 10 5 Pa

 
respectively. If the density of air at sea level is 1.2 kg.m -3, what is the density of the air
on Mount Everest?

Therefore at sea level

p1 = 1.0 x 105 Pa, V1 = 0.83 m3, T1 = 300K.

At the top of Mount Everest                                                                                    

p2 = 3.3 x 104 Pa, V2 = ? m3, T1 = 250K.

                                                                                                            
 An example
At the top of Mount Everest the temperature is around 250K, with atmospheric
pressure around 3.3 x 104 Pa. At seas level these values are 300K and 1.0 x 10 5 Pa
respectively. If the density of air at sea level is 1.2 kg.m -3, what is the density of the air
on Mount Everest?
Therefore at sea level p1 = 1.0 x 105 Pa, V1 = 0.83 m3, T1 = 300K.
At the top of Mount Everest p2 = 3.3 x 104 Pa, V2 = ? m3, T1 = 250K.

p1V1/T1 = p2V2/T2

(1.0 x 105 Pa x 0.83 m3)/300K = (3.3 x 104 Pa x V2)/250K

V2 = 2.1 m3,

This is the volume of 1kg of air on Everest

Density = mass/volume = 1/2.1 = 0.48 kg.m-3.

pV = constant
T
 The equation of state
Experiment has shown us that

pV = nR
T
Where n = number of moles of gas and R = Gas constant

(8.31J.K-1.mol-1)
Remember, T
must be in
Kelvin
 Sample question
• A container of hydrogen of volume 0.1m3
and temperature 25°C contains 3.20 x 1023
molecules. What is the pressure in the
container?

K.A.Tsokos “Physics for the IB Diploma” 5th Edition

 Sample question
• A container of hydrogen of volume 0.1m3
and temperature 25°C contains 3.20 x 1023
molecules. What is the pressure in the
container?
# moles = 3.20 x 1023/6.02 x 1023 = 0.53

K.A.Tsokos “Physics for the IB Diploma” 5th Edition

 Sample question
• A container of hydrogen of volume 0.1m3
and temperature 25°C contains 3.20 x 1023
molecules. What is the pressure in the
container?
# moles = 3.20 x 1023/6.02 x 1023 = 0.53

P = RnT/V = (8.31 x 0.53 x 298)/0.1 = 1.3 x 104 N.m-2

K.A.Tsokos “Physics for the IB Diploma” 5th Edition

 Average kinetic energy of a
particle (ideal gas)
• Ēk = (3/2)kBT = 3RT/2NA

where Ēk = average kinetic energy

kB = Boltzmann’s constant
T = temperature in Kelvin
R = Gas constant 8.31 J.K-1.mol-1
NA = Number of particles
3.2 Ideal gas questions