CHM 1102

Lecture 20
Gases (cont’d)
 Gay-Lussac’s Law of Combining
Volumes
• When gases react, they do so in volumes which bear a
simple ratio to one another and to the volume of the
product(s) (if gaseous), with temperature and pressure
constant
• The law explains experimental observations about how
gaseous molecules combine
For the reactions:
N2(g) + 3H2(g) → 2NH3(g)
1 vol 3 vol 2 vol
2H2(g) + O2(g) → 2H2O(g)
2 vol 1 vol 2 vol
Note
• V= nRT/P
• When RT/P is constant  V α n
 Dalton’s Law of Partial
•  Pressures
Dalton's law of partial pressures states
• the total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is
the sum of the partial pressures of each individual
gas present
• It is assumed that each gas behaves as an ideal gas
• For a mixture of gases A, B, C,…..Z
PTotal = PA + PB + PC + …… PZ

• Each gas exerts a pressure as if it was alone in

the container
PTotal = + + + …….
 Properties of Gases
• Generally for gases
– Gases can be compressed into smaller volumes
– Gases exert pressure on their surroundings; so pressure
must be exerted to confine gases
– Gases expand to fill the container regardless of its
volume
– Gases diffuse into each other

• The amounts and properties of gases are described by:

– Temperature
– Pressure,
– The volume occupied
– The number of molecules present
 The Kinetic Molecular
•
Theory
The basic assumptions of the kinetic molecular theory for an
ideal
gas are:
– Gases consist of discrete molecules of negligible size
– The gas molecules are in continuous, random motion
with varying velocities
– The molecules exert no attractive or repulsive forces
on each other
except when they collide
– The collisions between gas molecules and with the
walls of the container are totally elastic (momentum is
conserved)
• The velocity (v) of a gas is related to its temperature and
mass
v = √(3RT/m)
• Kinetic energy is directly related to just the temperature
KE = 3RT/2
 Real Gases
• The concept of the Ideal Gas is a hypothetical concept
• A real gas differs somewhat from the ideal gas
• The gas molecules do not have negligible size but they take up
a finite space (volume)
• There is attractive and repulsive forces between the
molecules
• Attractive forces at normal temperature and
pressure
• Repulsive force at high pressures
• When they collide they do not have totally elastic collisions but
some energy is lost

• A real gas behaves like an ideal gas at high temperatures

and low pressures