Gas Laws

➢ The gas laws, more specifically the ideal gas laws, are used to explain the
behaviour of gases under different conditions of temperature and
pressure.
➢ An ideal gas is a hypothetical gas whose molecules occupy negligible space
and have no interactions.
➢ In reality, there is no such thing as an ideal gas but many gases behave
approximately as an ideal gas and will therefore obey the gas laws.

➢ The three ideal gas laws are:

★ Boyle’s law
★ Charles’ law
★ Pressure law.

When the laws are represented mathematically the following symbols are used:
P- (pressure of the gas)
V- (volume of the gas)
T- temperature (must be in kelvin)

Looking at Boyle’s Law-comparing pressure to volume

Consider the gas in the container above. Remember that the pressure of the
gas depends on the frequency of collisions. If the volume is decreased as in the
second diagram that would lead to more frequent collisions. It can therefore be
concluded that decreasing volume leads to an increase in pressure which is the
basis of Boyle’s law.

❏ Boyle’s law states that for a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature,
the pressure is inversely proportional to its volume.

Note: For this law to apply the temperature and the mass of the gas must
not change.

Expressed Mathematically:
 Initial Pressure x Initial Volume = Final Pressure x Final Volume

You may also use: PV= constant

Expressed Graphically:

There are two variations of the graph. Graph (a) would be obtained if pressure
is plotted against volume. Since one variable decreases as the other increases,
it is sometimes useful to plot pressure against the inverse of volume to get a
positive gradient as in graph (b).

Worked Example 1:
Worked Example 2:
Worked Example 3:

Task 1: View the attached videos then complete the solution to this question in
your notebooks.
Task 2 : Now
try these two
as well.
Remember to
include your
working.

1 kPa = 1 atm

Answer key: (Use this to verify your answers)

Task 1 → 0.1538 atm (4 d.p.)
Task 2 (i) → 336, 000 Pa or 336 kPa
(ii) → 0.006479 L