Ideal gases

Ideal gases
Measuring gases (basic chemistry review)

- Avogadro’s constant: the number of atoms in a sample of exactly 12g of Carbon-12
NA = 6.022 x 1023 atoms = 1 mole
- Mole: A quantity of a substance that contains N A particles

- Molarity: The number of moles in a given quantity of a substance (unit – mol)
Molarity = no. of molecules / NA
- Molar mass: mass of 1 mole of a substance

Molarity = Mass / Molar mass
Goofy laws
- Boyle’s law: the pressure exerted by a fixed mass of gas is inversely proportional
to its volume, given that the temperature of the gas is constant
or
(red line - higher temperature)
or for convenience in calculations:
- Charles’ law: The volume occupied by a gas at constant pressure is directly

proportional to its thermodynamic (absolute) temperature
 Gas must have a fixed mass too btw
or
- Combining Boyle’s law and Charles’ law:
(for a fixed mass of gas)
 This is an empirical relationship; it doesn’t actually explain why gases behave

in such a way
 These macroscopic observations are explained by the kinetic theory of gases
– a model based on microscopic motion of atoms & particles of a gas, used to
explain (covered later)
*General gas law
Ideal gases
*Pressure law: Pressure is inversely proportional to volume, for a fixed amount of an
ideal gas
- Ideal gas equation
 Note the units

o p = pressure (Pa or Nm-2)
o V = volume of gas (m3)
o n = number of moles of gas (mol)
o R = universal molar gas constant = 8.31 J mol -1 K-1
o T = temperature (K)
o k = Boltzmann’s constant
 Is a combination of Boyle’s, Charles’ and Avogadro’s (not learned) law
- Kinetic theory of gases & assumptions

 Due to the inconsistent nature of atoms at extreme conditions, assumptions
have to be made for ideal gases to actually use the ideal gas equation (& the
1. An ideal gas consists of a large number of identical particles in constant random

motion
2. Molecules never stop moving  collisions between molecules & with the
container are elastic
 No KE is lost; internal energy = total KE
3. Volume of each particle is negligible, relative to the volume they occupy
4. (from 3.) Distance between molecules are far enough such that intermolecular
forces are negligible
 No forces act on a molecule, except during collision
 If IMFs existed, particles would clump up
5. Time of collision with container walls is negligible relative to time between
collisions
related laws)
- Pressure of an ideal gas

 The KToG links the microscopic (pressure, volume) & macroscopic (mass,
speed) properties of a gas; we can use it to derive an equation for pressure of
an ideal gas
 Consider a single gas molecule in a box, colliding with the container &
contributing to the pressure
 The molecule has speed c (NOT the speed of light) & container side length l
 5 stages of calculation
1. Find Δp (change in momentum) as the single molecule hits the wall at 90 o
2. Find the time between collisions on the ABCD side wall (collisions per
second by the molecule)
3. Find the Δp/s (force)
4. Find the pressure exerted on the wall
5. Consider the effect of the molecule moving in 3 directions
1) Find Δp as the molecule hits the wall at 90 o

 p = mc
 p changes from mc to -mc
2) Find the time between collisions on the ABCD side wall

 Between each collision, the molecule travels 2l with speed c
3) Find Δp/s
 Recall Newton’s 2nd: F = Δp/t
4) Find the pressure exerted by the molecule on the wall
 Area of ABCD = l2
 Notice
 This is for only 1 molecule; irl there’s a large number of molecules N in the
box, each with different velocities
 We use <c2> to represent the average value of c2
5) Consider the effect of the molecule moving in 3 directions

 The above equation considers all the particles moving in the same direction &
all hitting ABCD (& its opposite side)
 If there are components cx, cy, cz :
 As there is nothing special about a particular direction:
 The 1-directional equation, considering only cx:
 Substituting the 2 equations above together for the final formula – pressure
of an ideal gas
*Implications of the equation
 Pressure is directly proportional to:
o N – more molecules  higher pressure
o m – higher mass  greater force exerted  higher pressure
 Pressure is inversely proportional to volume (deduction of Boyle’s law)
o Gas occupies larger volume  frequency of collision with container
decreases  lower pressure
Kinetic energy & Boltzmann’s constant

- Comparing the pressure & ideal gas equation:
 Shows the relation between the absolute temperature of a gas (macroscopic)

& the mass and speed of its molecules
 Rearranging:
 NA = n / N
 ½ on both sides  KE equation
 Substituting Boltzmann’s constant:
o This is the average mean translational kinetic energy E of a molecule in
Average mean translational KE ∝ T

the gas
o
o Mean KE: 2 ways to find
 Add up all KEs of individual molecules of gas & calculate average
per molecule
 Watch an individual molecule over a period of time & calculate
average KE over time
o Translational KE: KE gained by a molecule moving from a point in space
to another
- Boltzmann’s constant
 The quantity R / NA above is defined as the Boltzmann’s constant, k: the gas
constant per molecule
 Value: 1.38 x 10-23 J K-1
- Root-mean-square speed: The square root of the average of the squares of the
speeds of all the molecules in a gas

Ideal gases

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Ideal gases

Measuring gases (basic chemistry review)

NA = 6.022 x 1023 atoms = 1 mole

- Mole: A quantity of a substance that contains N A particles

Molarity = no. of molecules / NA

- Molar mass: mass of 1 mole of a substance

or for convenience in calculations:

- Charles’ law: The volume occupied by a gas at constant pressure is directly

- Combining Boyle’s law and Charles’ law:

(for a fixed mass of gas)

 This is an empirical relationship; it doesn’t actually explain why gases behave

*General gas law

- Ideal gas equation

 Note the units

- Kinetic theory of gases & assumptions

1. An ideal gas consists of a large number of identical particles in constant random

- Pressure of an ideal gas

1) Find Δp as the molecule hits the wall at 90 o

2) Find the time between collisions on the ABCD side wall

5) Consider the effect of the molecule moving in 3 directions

 As there is nothing special about a particular direction:

 The 1-directional equation, considering only cx:

Kinetic energy & Boltzmann’s constant

 Shows the relation between the absolute temperature of a gas (macroscopic)

 ½ on both sides  KE equation

 Substituting Boltzmann’s constant:

o This is the average mean translational kinetic energy E of a molecule in

Average mean translational KE ∝ T

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