Unit 8: The Properties of Gases – Experimenting with Gases

Introduction:
We already know how to work gas problems using the gas laws. Now we need to
consider the actual experimental collection of gases so we can do some experiments
ourselves. How can we collect a gas and work with it?! We can pour a liquid into a
beaker and mass it or pour the liquid into a graduated cylinder and read the volume. We
can easily place a solid on a balance. However, we can't pull a gas out of the air and
hold it on a balance nor can we pour a gas into a graduated cylinder. Gas molecules are
small, invisible, and constantly moving. What do we do?!!! In basic experimental work,
gases are "collected over water." Many gases are not soluble in water and can be
collected by bubbling them through water and into a gas collection tube. This will allow
us to trap, "see", and measure the gas molecules.

Experimental Strategy:
Suppose we are collecting hydrogen gas. Before the reaction starts, the gas
collection vessel (tube, beaker, jar, etc.) is filled with water.

When the gas starts to flow from the delivery tube

into the collection vessel, hydrogen bubbles rise to
the top of the tube which forces some of the water
out. This is called "water displacement." After the
reaction is over, we need to know how much gas we
have collected. To figure this out, we will need to
know the temperature, volume, and pressure.

1. Temperature – measure water temperature.

2. Volume
 If collection vessel is graduated, simply read from the scale on the side of the
vessel
 If collection vessel is NOT graduated, measure initial and final volumes of
water and subtract to find volume of gas produced
3. Pressure – There are 2 possible scenarios…

Scenario I: Equal Water Levels (Raise/lower the collection vessel until the water level
inside is equal to the water level outside.)

The first scenario is that the water left inside the collection vessel is equal to the level of
the water outside the vessel. When these two levels are equal, the pressure (or push) of
the gas on the inside must equal the pressure (or push) from the atmosphere on the
outside. Neither gas is winning in their ability to push the water - it is a standoff. If we
measure the pressure of the atmosphere by reading a barometer then we will also know
the pressure of the collected gas, right? Well, sort of.
In the equal level scenario, atmospheric pressure (P atm) will reflect the pressure of the
gas inside the vessel, but the problem is that there is more than one gas inside the
vessel. When a gas is bubbled through water, the collected gas always is
"contaminated" with water molecules that have evaporated into the gas phase. Water
vapor, like other gases, exerts a pressure. We call it the vapor pressure of water and we
have to take this into account.

Chemistry Raleigh Charter High School Dr. Genez

 Unit 8: The Properties of Gases – Experimenting with Gases
Since the gas pressure is due to the collision of the various gas molecules with
the walls of the container, the total pressure of the mixture of gases (the collected gas
and the water vapor) is the sum of their partial pressures. This follows from Dalton's
Law of Partial Pressures.
The partial pressure is the pressure each gas would exert if it alone were present. To
determine the pressure of the "dry" gas (P gas  unmixed with water vapor), the vapor
pressure of water (PH2O) at the given temperature is subtracted from the total pressure
(Ptotal = Patm) of the gas within the tube (P gas = Patm - PH2O). The pressure exerted by
water vapor at various temperatures is listed in the table below.

Vapor Pressure of Water

Temp Pressure Temp Pressure Temp Pressure
(*C) (torr) (*C) (torr) (*C) (torr)
0 4.6 17 14.5 30 31.8
5 6.5 18 15.5 40 55.3
10 9.2 19 16.5 50 92.5
11 9.8 20 17.5 60 149.4
12 10.5 21 18.7 70 233.7
13 11.2 22 19.8 80 355.1
14 12.0 23 21.1 90 525.8
15 12.8 24 22.4 100 760.0
16 13.6 25 23.8

Try the following practice problem:

1. A student generates oxygen gas in the lab and collects it over water at 25.8 oC until
the levels of the water inside and outside the collection tube are equal. If the volume
of the gas is 245.3 mL and the barometric pressure is 758.6 torr:

a. What is the partial pressure of oxygen gas in the “wet” gas mixture?

b. What would be the volume of dry oxygen at STP?

Chemistry Raleigh Charter High School Dr. Genez

 Unit 8: The Properties of Gases – Experimenting with Gases

Scenario II: Unequal Water Levels

In this scenario, the levels of water inside and outside the collecting vessel are unequal.
This adds an additional correction factor because the total pressure of the collected gas
mixture is no longer equal to P atm. We can correct for this by measuring the difference in
the levels with a ruler in mm H 2O. However, barometric pressure is measured in mm Hg,
not mm H2O. Since Hg is 13.6 times as dense as water, a given pressure will support a
column of water 13.6 times higher than an equivalent column of Hg. Therefore, a
difference in water levels must be divided by 13.6 to give its equivalent height in
mercury.

Pdiff = mm H2O = mm Hg
13.6

Depending on whether the H2O level is higher inside the collection tube or outside the
collection tube, the calculated P diff will have to be subtracted from or added to P atm. We
will still have to correct for PH2O in addition to Pdiff.

Pgas = Patm – PH2O − Pdiff or Pgas = Patm – PH2O + Pdiff

Try the following practice problem: (remember: mm Hg = torr)

2. 50.0 mL of oxygen are collected over water. The level of water is 27.2 mm higher
inside the collection tube than outside. The temperature is 20.9 oC, and the
barometric pressure is 754.3 torr. What is the volume of the dry gas at STP?

Chemistry Raleigh Charter High School Dr. Genez