KINETIC THEORY OF

MATTER
3 STATES OF MATTER
SOLID
LIQUID
SOLIDS
Fixed shape and volume
Normally hard and rigid
Large force needed to
change shape
High density
Incompressible
Model of Solids
Closely packed
together
Occupy minimum
space
Regular pattern
Vibrate about fixed
position
Not free to move about

Fixed volume but no
fixed shape
High density
Not compressible
Model of Liquids
Occur in clusters
with molecules
slightly further apart
as compared to solids
Free to move about
within confined
vessel

Very far apart

Travel at high speeds
Independent and random
motion
Negligible forces of
attraction between them
Brownian Motion
Movement of
smoke cells
were observed
under the
microscope
Random
motion
Pressure in Gases
(Ideal Gases)
Air molecules in a container are in
as state of continuous motion.
Pressure in Gases
(Ideal Gases)
Air molecules in a container are in
as state of continuous motion.
When they collide with the wall of
a container, they exert a force, F on
the wall.
F
Pressure in Gases
(Ideal Gases)
Air molecules in a container are in
as state of continuous motion.
When they collide with the wall of
a container, they exert a force, F on
the wall.
F
The force per unit area is the
pressure exerted on the wall.
Pressure-volume (p-V)
relationship of a gas
Air molecules in a container will
exert a certain amount of pressure.
Pressure-volume (p-V)
relationship of a gas
Air molecules in a container will
exert a certain amount of pressure.
If the volume of this container was
to decrease, the air molecules will
have less space to move about. This
will result in the molecules colliding
with the walls more frequently.
Pressure-volume (p-V)
relationship of a gas
Therefore, when we decrease the volume of
the container, the pressure exerted by the
air molecules on the container increases.
V
1
p
To form an equation,
p = k/V
pV = k (k is a constant)
p
1
V
1
= p
2
V
2

Where p
1
and V
1
are the initial pressure and volume,
And p
2
and V
2
are the final pressure and volume.
Example:
The volume of a fixed mass of gas at 600 Pa is 1500cm
3
.
What is the pressure if the volume is reduced to
1000 cm
3
at constant temperature?
Solution:
Using the formula: p
1
V
1
= p
2
V
2

(600)(1500) = p
2
(1000)
p
2
=
p
2
= 900 Pa
(1000)
) (600)(1500
P-T Relationship
Now we will keep the
volume of the
container constant.
We will investigate to
see how the pressure
will vary with
temperature of the
gas.
From the applet, we can see that
Pressure increases as the temperature increases.
T P
when the volume is kept constant
Example
Air is being trapped in a container of fixed volume. At room
temperature of 300 K, the pressure exerted by the gas is 100 Pa.
If the air in the container was heated to 600 K, what is the new
pressure exerted by the gas now?
Solution:
Since pressure is proportional to temperature, when temperature
increases, pressure should also increase.
Temperature increases by 2 times, so pressure should increase by
2 times.
New pressure = 100 x 2 = 200 Pa
This is the most commonly occurring relationship.
When gas gets heated, the amount of space that it
occupies expands.
So when temperature increase, volume would also
increase. Temperature is proportional to volume.

T V
at constant pressure
Example
A balloon is filled with gas, at a temperature of 300 K, to a
volume of 50cm
3
. If I want to expand the balloon to a volume of
150cm
3
, what is the temperature of the gas now? Assuming that
the pressure exerted by the gas does not change.
Solution:
Volume is proportional to temperature.
Since the volume has to be increased by 3 times, the
volume should also be increased accordingly.
Required temperature = 300 x 3 = 900 K