INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT
2018-19
SUBJECT- PHYSICS
TOPIC- KINETIC
THEORY OF GASES
 ACKNOWLEGMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of
gratitude towards my physical education
teacher for providing me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project. I
would also like to extend my gratitude to
Principal Sir for providing me this opportunity.
During the accomplishment of this project I
learned so many new things which benefited
me a lot and helped me in gaining a lot of
knowledge.
 KINETIC THEORY OF GASES
The kinetic theory of gases describes a gas as a
group of large number of small sub microscopic
particles (atoms or molecules), all of which are in
constant, rapid, random motion. The randomness
arises from the particles' many collisions with each
other and with the walls of the container.
The kinetic theory was developed in the nineteenth
century by Maxwell, Boltzmann and others. It
explains the behaviour of gases based on the idea
that the gas consists of rapidly moving atoms or
molecules.
This theory of gases explains various types of
macroscopic properties of gases, such as pressure,
temperature, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and
volume, by considering their molecular composition
and motion. The theory posits that gas pressure
results from particles' collisions with the walls of a
container at different velocities.
The theory for ideal gases makes the following
assumptions:

 The gas consists of very small particles known as

molecules. This smallness of their size is such that the
total volume of the individual gas molecules added up
is negligible compared to the volume of the smallest
open ball containing all the molecules. This is
equivalent to stating that the average distance
separating the gas particles is large compared to
their size.
 These particles have the same mass.
 The number of molecules is so large that statistical
treatment can be applied.
 There are negligible gravitational force on molecules.
 The rapidly moving particles constantly collide among
themselves and with the walls of the container. All
these collisions are perfectly elastic. This means the
molecules are considered to be perfectly spherical in
shape and elastic in nature.
 Except during collisions, the interactions among
molecules are negligible.
 The average kinetic energy of the gas particles
depends only on the absolute temperature of
the system. The kinetic theory has its own definition
of temperature, not identical with the thermodynamic
definition.
Ideal Gas-
An ideal gas or a perfect gas is that gas which strictly obeys gas
laws such as Boyle’s law, Charle’s law, Gay Lussac’s law etc.
An ideal gas has following characteristics-
(I) Molecule of an ideal gas is a point mass with no geometrical
dimensions.
(II) There is no force of attraction or repulsion amongst the
molecules of the gas.
Kinetic Theory and Gas Pressure-
The pressure of a gas is the result of continuous bombardment
of the gas molecules against the walls of the container.
According to the kinetic theory, the pressure P exerted by an
ideal gas is given by

Boyle’s Law-
According to this law, the volume (V) of a fixed mass of a gas is
inversely proportional to the pressure (P) of the gas, provided
temperature of the gas is kept constant.

where P is the pressure of the molecules on the container, V is

the volume of the container, and k is a constant.

The value of k always stays the same so that P and V vary

appropriately. For example, if pressure increases, k must remain
constant and thus volume will decrease. This is consistent with
the predictions of Boyle's law.
Charle’s Law-
According to this law, the volume (V) of a given mass of a gas is
directly proportional to the temperature of the gas, provided
pressure of the gas remains constant.

where V is the volume of the container, T is the temperature of

the system in Kelvin, and k is the constant.

According to Charles' law, gases will expand when heated. The

temperature of a gas is really a measure of the average kinetic
energy of the particles. As the kinetic energy increases, the
particles will move faster and want to make more collisions
with the container. However, remember that in order for the
law to apply, the pressure must remain constant. The only way
to do this is by increasing the volume.
Gay Lussac’s Law (or Pressure Law)-
According to this law, the pressure (P) of a given mass of a gas
is directly proportional to its absolute temperature (T),
provided the volume (V) of the gas remains constant.

where P is the pressure of the particles on the container, T is the

temperature in Kelvin, and k is a constant. At constant volume,
this results in more collisions and thereby greater pressure the
container. Because the value of k is the same for differing values
of pressure and temperature, the pressure law can be written as

P1T1=P2T2

Avogadro’s Law-
Avogadro’s law states that the volume of a gas is directly
related to the number of moles of atoms contained in the gas.
The equation for Avogadro's law is
V/n=k
where V is the volume of the container, n is the amount of gas
as measured by the moles of atoms, and k is a constant. Say you
have a given amount of particles in a box. If you want to add
more particles, but you do not want to increase the pressure,
you must make the container larger.

Graham’s Law of Diffusion of Gases-

It states that rate of diffusion of a gas is inversely proportional
to the square root of the density of the gas.

Equation of State of an Ideal Gas-

Consider a further extension of the combined gas law to
include n. By analogy to Avogadro’s law, n is positioned in the
denominator of the fraction, opposite the volume. So

PV/nT= constant

Because pressure, volume, temperature, and amount are the

only four independent physical properties of a gas, the constant
in the above equation is truly a constant; indeed, because we do
not need to specify the identity of a gas to apply the gas laws,
this constant is the same for all gases. We define this constant
with the symbol R, so the previous equation is written as

PV/nT= R

which is usually rearranged as

PV = nRT

This equation is called the ideal gas law. It relates the four
independent properties of a gas at any time. The constant R is
called the ideal gas law constant. Its value depends on the units
used to express pressure and volume.

 The ideal gas law relates the four independent physical

properties of a gas at any time.
 The ideal gas law can be used in stoichiometry problems
whose chemical reactions involve gases.
 Standard temperature and pressure (STP) are a useful set
of benchmark conditions to compare other properties of
gases.
 At STP, gases have a volume of 22.4 L per mole.
 The ideal gas law can be used to determine densities of
gases.

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures-

In gaseous mixture, each component in the gas phase can be
treated separately. Each component of the mixture shares the
same temperature and volume. (Remember that gases expand to
fill the volume of their container; gases in a mixture continue to
do that as well.) However, each gas has its own pressure.
The partial pressure of a gas, Pi, is the pressure that an
individual gas in a mixture has.
According to this law, the resultant pressure exerted by a
mixture of non-interacting gases is equal to the sum of their
individual pressures.
P = P1 + P2 +------Pn
Degrees of Freedom-
The total number of independent co-ordinates required to
specify the position of a molecule or the number of independent
modes of motion possible with any molecule is called degree of
freedom.
Mono-, di-, and polyatomic (N) molecules have 3, 5 or (3 N-K)
number of degrees of freedom where K is the number of
constraints [restrictions associated with the structure].

Law of Equipartition of Energy-

For a dynamic system in thermal equilibrium, the energy of the
system is equally distributed amongst the various degrees of
freedom and the energy associated with each degree of freedom
per molecule given by
Kinetic Energy of a single molecule: KE = 1/2 mv2. A gas in
thermal equilibrium at temperature T, the average Energy is:
Eavg = 1/2 mvx2 + 1/2 mvy2 + 1/2 mvz2 = 1/2KT + 1/2 KT + 1/2 KT =
3/2 KT
where K = Boltzmann’s constant. In case of a monoatomic
molecule, since there is only translational motion, the energy
allotted to each motion is 1/2KT. This is calculated by dividing
total energy by the degrees of freedom:
3/2 KT ÷ 3 = 1/2 KT

According to the Law of Equipartition of Energy, in thermal

equilibrium, the total energy is distributed equally among all
energy modes. While the translational and rotational motion
contributes ½ KT to the total energy, vibrational motion
contributes 2 x 1/2KT = KT since it has both kinetic and potential
energy modes.

Thank you