Gas Laws: Pressure, Volume,

and Hot Air

Presented by: Paula Lyn Parado Eran

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Introduction

Welcome!
This interactive lesson will
introduce three ways of
predicting the behavior of gases:
Boyle’s Law, Charles’ Law, and
the Ideal Gas Law.
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 Main Menu

Basic
Lesson 1
Terminology
Lesson 3 Charles’ Law

Lesson 2 Boyle’s Law Lesson 4 Ideal Gas Law

Review Review of all four lessons

Lesson 1: Basic Terminology

This lesson reviews terms

used to describe the
properties and behavior of
gases.

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Opening thoughts…

Have you ever:

Seen a hot air balloon?

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 Opening thoughts…

Have you ever:

Seen a hot air balloon?

Had a soda bottle spray all over you?

Baked (or eaten) a nice, fluffy cake?

These are all examples of gases at work!

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Properties of Gases
You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure
Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature
Lets review each of these briefly…

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You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure
Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature

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 Pressure
Pressure is defined as the force the gas
exerts on a given area of the container in
which it is contained. The SI unit for
pressure is the Pascal, Pa.
• If you’ve ever inflated a tire,
you’ve probably made a
pressure measurement in
pounds (force) per square inch
(area).

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You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure
Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature

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 Volume
Volume is the three-dimensional space inside
the container holding the gas. The SI unit for
volume is the cubic meter, m3. A more common
and convenient unit is the liter, L.

Think of a 2-liter bottle of soda to get

an idea of how big a liter is.
(OK, how big two of them are…)

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You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure
Volume

Amount (moles)
Temperature

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 Amount (moles)
Amount of substance is tricky. As we’ve already
learned, the SI unit for amount of substance is the mole,
mol. Since we can’t count molecules, we can convert
measured mass (in kg) to the number of moles, n, using
the molecular or formula weight of the gas.

By definition, one mole of a substance contains

approximately 6.022 x 1023 particles of the
substance. You can understand why we use mass
and moles!

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You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure
Volume
Amount (moles)

Temperature

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 Temperature
Temperature is the measurement of heat…or how
fast the particles are moving. Gases, at room
temperature, have a lower boiling point than things
that are liquid or solid at the same temperature.
Remember: Not all substance freeze, melt or
evaporate at the same temperature.

Water will freeze at zero degrees Celsius.

However Alcohol will not freeze at this
temperature.

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How do they all relate?
Some relationships of gases may be
easy to predict. Some are more subtle.
Now that we understand the factors that
affect the behavior of gases, we will
study how those factors interact.

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How do they all relate?
Some relationships of gases may be
easy to predict. Some are more subtle.
Now that we understand the factors that
affect the behavior of gases, we will
study how those factors interact.

Let’s go!

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Lesson 2: Boyle’s Law

This lesson introduces Boyle’s

Law, which describes the
relationship between pressure and
volume of gases.

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Boyle’s Law
 This law is named for Charles Boyle, who
studied the relationship between pressure,
p, and volume, V, in the mid-1600s.
 Boyle determined that for the same amount
of a gas at constant temperature, results in
an inverse relationship:
when one goes up, the other

volume
comes down.

pressure
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 What does Boyle’s Law mean?

Suppose you have a cylinder with a piston in the

top so you can change the volume. The cylinder
has a gauge to measure pressure, is contained so
the amount of gas is constant, and can be
maintained at a constant temperature.
A decrease in volume will result in increased
pressure.
Hard to picture? Let’s fix that!

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Boyle’s Law at Work…

Doubling the pressure reduces the volume by half. Conversely, when the
volume doubles, the pressure decreases by half.

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Lesson 2 Complete!

This concludes Lesson 2 on Boyle’s Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 3 to learn about how
temperature fits in.
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Lesson 3: Charles’ Law

This lesson introduces Charles’

Law, which describes the
relationship between volume and
temperature of gases.

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 Charles’ Law
 This law is named for Jacques Charles, who
studied the relationship volume, V, and
temperature, T, around the turn of the 19th
century.
 This defines a direct relationship:
With the same amount of gas he found that
as the volume increases the temperature
also increases. If the temperature
decreases than the volume also

temperature
decreases.

volume
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 What does Charles’ Law mean?
Suppose you have that same cylinder with a piston
in the top allowing volume to change, and a
heating/cooling element allowing for changing
temperature. The force on the piston head is
constant to maintain pressure, and the cylinder is
contained so the amount of gas is constant.
An increase in temperature results in increased
volume.
Hard to picture? Let’s fix it (again)!

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Charles’ Law at Work…

As the temperature increases, the volume increases. Conversely, when

the temperature decreases, volume decreases.

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Lesson 3 Complete!

This concludes Lesson 3 on Charles’ Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 4 to put all the pieces
together with the Ideal Gas Law.
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Lesson 3 Complete!

This concludes Lesson 3 on Charles’ Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 4 to put all the pieces
together with the Ideal Gas Law.
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Mission complete!
 You have completed the lessons and
review. Congratulations!
 You should now have a better
understanding of the properties of gases,
how they interrelate, and how to use them to
predict gas behavior.
 Please click on the button below to reset the
lesson for the next student. Thanks!

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