Gas Laws

Definitions
thermodynamic system
heat Q - the transfer of an amount of thermal energy
work W - when a gas compresses or expands
change in internal energy U - the change is directly proportional
to the change of the temperature
Molecular explanation of pressure
the pressure in a gas results from the collisions between the gas
molecules with the walls of the container
not from collisions between gas molecules
press
Heat is energy that is transferred from one body into another as
a result of a difference in temperature.
Internal energy is the total kinetic energy of the molecules of a
substance, plus any potential energy associated with forces between
the molecules.
The absolute temperature is a measure of the average kinetic
energy of the molecules of a substance. The average kinetic energy
of the molecules is directly proportional to the absolute
temperature in Kelvin.
T (in Kelvin) = (in Celsius) + 273

n (number of moles) = m (mass of a substance)

Mr (molecular mass of the substance)

graphs - equations

P*V = constant (if the temperature T is constant)

P/T = constant (if the volume V is constant)
V/T = constant (if the pressure P is constant)

P/Pa

-273

/oC

273

P/Pa

Ideal Gases
An ideal gas is a gas in which the gas particles (atoms or molecules) do not
interact, that is, they move freely and independently of each other. The
behaviour of ideal gases is a close approximation to the behaviour of most
real gases. That state of the system of particles making up the gas is
determined by the pressure P, temperature T, number of moles n, and volume
V of the gas. An equation that shows how these quantities depend on each
other is called an equation of state. The detailed study of gases has shown
that the equation of state (which is often called the ideal gas law) for an ideal
gas is

PV = nRT
constant R called the gas constant, which has the value R = 8.31 Jmol-1 K-1.

Ideal Gas vs Real Gases

An ideal gas is one, which obeys the general gas equation of PV = nRT and
other gas laws at all temperatures and pressures. A real gas, does not obey
the general gas equation and other gas laws at all conditions of temperature
and pressure.

One can now summarize the differences between ideal and real gases as
follows:

Also, an ideal gas never changes state.

3

Thermal Processes
We only consider processes that take place so slowly that we can
consider the system to be in thermal equilibrium with its
surroundings throughout the process.
These conditions allow processes to be reversible, which means
that both the system and its environment can be returned to their
precise states at the beginning of the process.
Processes for which these conditions do not apply are called
irreversible.
Ideal Gas Processes

The First Law of Thermodynamics

When a small amount of heat Q is given to a gas, the gas will
absorb that energy and use it to increase its internal energy and/or
to do work by expanding.
The first law of thermodynamics is essentially just an application
of the conservation of energy to situations involving heat flow.
eat flow into the system is consider positive Q and out of the
system is consider negativeQ ,
Work done by the system (expansion) is positive W and on the
system (contraction) is negative W .
The mathematical expression of this law is
Q =U + W.

Notice that this expression is consistent with the intuitive notion

that the internal energy will increase when either heat is added to
the system and/or work is done on the system.
An important distinction between internal energy, heat, and work
is that changes in internal energy only depend on the initial and final
states of the system (which are determined by pressure,
temperature, and volume) and U is therefore called a state
function.
Both heat and work depend not only on the states involved, but
also on the process by which a system is changed from one state to
another.
5

Constant Pressure
For a gas that expands or contracts during a process while held at constant
pressure (called an isobaric process), the work done by the gas during the
process is found to be
W = P*(V) (only for constant pressure),
where V = Vf - Vi is the change in the volume of the gas. The above result
can be interpreted graphically as the area under the curve of a pressure
versus volume plot (see below). In fact, the area under the curve of a
pressure versus volume plot for an expanding (or contracting) gas equals the
work done by (or on) the gas for any process, not just processes at constant
pressure.

work done = force * distance (W = F * x)

if the pressure is constant, p = force / area (p = F / A)
so F = p * A and then
W = p * A * x
and because Volume = area * length (V = A * l)
finally the formula is
W = p * V

P/Pa
P

V1

V2

V/m3

Constant Volume
At constant volume (an isochoric process), no work is done by the gas during a
reversible process. This fact is consistent with the above expression because
V = 0 when the volume is held constant. Also, intuition suggests that there
should be no work done because work results from force acting through
distance and if the gas does not expand or contract through any distance you
would expect the net work done by the gas to be zero. Thus,
W = 0 (for constant volume)

P
PA

PB

B
V

Isothermal Processes
An isothermal process is one that takes place at constant temperature. For
an ideal gas, the relationship between the pressure and the volume during an
isothermal process is

T1 < T2 < T3

If T = 0 U = 0, because the gas molecules have only kinetic energy.

7

Adiabatic Process
If no heat flows into or out of a system during a process the process is called
adiabatic. This type of process occurs when a system is well insulated or when
the process takes place so rapidly that heat doesn't have time to flow. During
adiabatic processes, the pressure, volume, and temperature may all change.
The pressure versus volume curve for a system undergoing an adiabatic
process is called an adiabat.

Q = 0 W = -U

examples
P/Pa

V/m3

Attachments

gasproperties.jar