Chapter 1 - Gases

1.2 – The Ideal Gas Law

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this section, students should be able to:

• Use the ideal gas law to determine densities and molar masses.

• Describe and apply Dalton’s law and the relationship between partial pressure and mole fraction.

• Perform stoichiometric calculations using gas volume and/or pressures.

• Describe and apply Graham’s law and the relationship between molecular mass, effusion rate, and
enhancement factor

2
The Molar Volume of a Gas
● We can use the ideal gas law to calculate the volume of 1 mol of gas at
standard temperature and pressure (STP) – 273.15 K and 1 atm:

V = 22.4 L

● The quantity of 22.4 L is known as the standard volume of an ideal gas

at STP
3
Variations of the Ideal Gas Law
● We can use the expression for density and the molar mass (MM) in the ideal
gas law.

PV = nRT 𝑑𝑅𝑇
𝑀𝑀 =
𝑃
Sub n = m/MM

Sub d = m/V

𝑚𝑅𝑇 𝑚𝑅𝑇
𝑃𝑉 = 𝑀𝑀 =
𝑀𝑀 Rearrange for MM 𝑃𝑉
4
Example 1.2.2. Molar Mass and Molecular
Formula of a Gas
A gas with the formula SOx has a density of 2.968 g L-1 at 35oC and
95.0 kPa. Determine the following:

a. The molar mass of the gas

5
 b. The value of x
What is the formula for this unknown gas, SOx, given MM = 80.0 g mol-1 ?​

6
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures
The total pressure exerted by a mixture of gases is the sum of all the partial
pressures of the gases.

𝑃 𝑇 = 𝑃 𝐴+𝑃 𝐵+𝑃 𝑐

PT : total pressure
PA : partial pressure of Gas A
PB : partial pressure of Gas B
PC: partial pressure of Gas C

7
 Mole Fractions and Partial Pressure
● The mole fraction Xi is defined as the number of the moles of an individual
gas, ni (nA, nB, or nC) divided by the total number of moles in the mixture, Xi

● The mole fraction provides a link between the partial pressure of a gas
component, Pi and the total pressure exerted by the mixture of gases, PT

PA
P PB
PC 8
 Mole Fractions and Partial Pressure
● Pressure and the number of moles of a gas are related through the ideal gas
law:

● The ideal gas law can be applied to each individual component of the gas
mixture.

9
Example 1.2.3. Partial Pressure and Mole
Fraction of a Gas
Flask A and Flask B are connected by a valve. Flask A has a volume of 400 mL and
initially contains O2(g) at a pressure of 90.0 kPa. Flask B has a volume of 700 mL and
initially contains N2(g) at a pressure of 70.0 kPa. The valve is opened and the gases
mix. The temperature is held constant. Determine the following:

a. The partial pressure of each gas after mixing

10
11
b. The total pressure.

12
c. The mole fraction of each gas in the final mixture

13
Example 1.2.4. Partial Pressures of
Atmospheric Gases
By volume, air contains 78% nitrogen (N2), 21% oxygen (O2), and the remaining 1% is
composed of rare gases (argon), carbon dioxide, and variable amounts of water vapour,
etc. Determine the partial pressure of each of the two main constituents (N2 and O2) at
an altitude where the atmospheric pressure is 0.80 atm.

14
15
Vapour-Liquid Equilibrium
● Consider filling a flask with water. Once the flask is closed, the air in the
flask is replaced with nitrogen gas (N2)

● Some of the water will evaporate until an equilibrium state is reached.

● The rate of evaporation equals the rate of condensation when

equilibrium is reached:

H2O(l) ⇆ H2O(g)

16
Vapour Pressure
● The vapour pressure is the partial pressure of a vapour (gas) above it
liquid (e.g. partial pressure of water vapour)

Ptotal = Pnitrogen + Pwater Vapour pressure

of water
17
Vapour Pressure and Temperature
● The vapour pressure increases as the temperature increases.

● As the temperature increases, water molecules have more energy to move from the
liquid state to the vapour state (more gas molecules means higher pressure!)

Gas Gas

Liquid Liquid

Lower temperature Higher temperature

18
Average Molar Mass of a Mixture
● The average molar mass, , of a mixture of gases (gas A, gas B, gas C, etc…)

can be calculated from the weighted average of the molar mass of the different

components:

XA , XB , and Xc : mole fractions of gases, A, B, and C respectively

MMA , MMB , and MMC : molar masses of gases, A, B, and C respectively

19
Example 1.2.6. Average Molar Mass of A
Mixture of Gases
A sample contains 0.123 moles O2(g), 0.123 moles of N2(g), and 0.164 moles of CO2(g).
What is the average molar mass of this mixture?

20
Example 1.2.7. Average Molar Mass and
Density of a Mixture of Gases.
A gaseous mixture of ethane, C2H6(g), and propane C3H8(g), exerts a total pressure of
85.0 kPa at 20oC. If the pressure of ethane is 40.0 kPa, what is the density of the
mixture?

21
Gas Reaction Stoichiometry
● The ideal gas law describes a proportional relationship between the number of
moles of a gas, n, and the pressure, P, and volume, V, of the gas:

● In chemical reactions, the stoichiometric coefficients are used to relate the number
of moles of the reactants and products.
6 mol of CO2 are needed to form 1 mol of
C6H12O6
6 CO2 + 6 H2O → C6H12O6 + 6 O2
6 L of CO2 are needed to form 1 L of
C6H12O6 (constant T and P)

6 atm of CO2 are needed to form 1 atm of

C6H12O6 (constant T and V) 22
Gas Reaction Stoichiometry
● The typical gas stoichiometry scenarios that we will work through in this section are:

1. Mole – volume

2. Mass – volume

3. Volume – volume

4. Pressure – pressure

23
Example 1.2.10. Stoichiometric Relationship
Based on Volume Change
Referring again to the Haber-Bosch process, how many litres of NH3 can be produced if
10 litres of N2 are consumed? The volumes are measured at the same temperature and
pressure.

N2(g) + 3 H2(g) → 2 NH3(g)

24
Example 1.2.11. Stoichiometric Relationship
Based on Pressure Change
A sealed vessel contains propane gas and oxygen gas with partial pressures of 60 kPa
and 200 kPa, respectively. The mixture is reacted according to the following unbalanced
equation:

C3H8(g) + O2(g) → CO2(g) + H2O(g)

and then cooled to the initial temperature.

a. What is the partial pressure of the CO2 produced?

b. What is the partial pressure of the excess reagent after the reaction?

c. What is the total pressure of the gaseous mixture?

d. What is the mole fraction of H2O in the gaseous mixture? 25

26
Graham’s Law
The rate of effusion of a gas is inversely proportional to the square root of its
molar mass

● For two different gases (A and B), Graham’s law can be written as:

See video lesson on ‘How This factor is known as

fast is a gas?’ for background the enrichment factor, f
information on kinetic
molecular theory of gases
and derivation of equation
27
Example 1.2.13 Effusion and Enrichment
Factor
The Manhattan project was a code name for the top-secret WWII-era US-led under-
taking to produce the first nuclear weapons. One of the first technological challenges in
that project was to collect enough nuclear fission material, 235U, by separating it from the
more abundant 238U isotope. To this purpose, a mixture of two uranium hexafluoride
gases (236UF6 and 238UF6) was effused repeatedly. Use the atomic mass of 235U (235.04),
238
U (238.05), and F (19.00) to determine the enrichment factor for each effusion.

28