IDEAL GAS LAW To give a definition of the Ideal Gas Law Equation, PV=nRT, we first must define what

an ideal gas is. An ideal gas is one that obeys the gas laws at all conditions. All collisions between atoms or molecules are perfectly elastic and should have no intermolecular forces of attraction. And it can be characterized further as a gas that is at STP or standard temperature and pressure, which in this state, occupies 22.4 L of space. A summary of the Ideal Gas Law is as follows: An Ideal Gas (perfect gas)is one which obeys Boyle's Law and Charles' Law exactly. An Ideal Gas obeys the Ideal Gas Law (General gas equation): PV = nRT where P=pressure, V=volume, n=moles of gas, T=temperature, R is the gas constant which is dependent on the units of pressure, temperature and volume R = 8.314 J K-1 mol-1 if Pressure is in kilopascals(kPa), Volume is in litres(L), Temperature is in Kelvin(K) R = 0.0821 L atm K-1 mol-1 if Pressure is in atmospheres(atm), Volume is in litres(L), Temperature is in Kelvin(K) An Ideal Gas is modelled on the Kinetic Theory of Gases which has 4 basic postulates Gases consist of small particles (molecules) which are in continuous random motion The volume of the molecules present is negligible compared to the total volume occupied by the gas Intermolecular forces are negligible Pressure is due to the gas molecules colliding with the walls of the container Real Gases deviate from Ideal Gas Behaviour because: at low temperatures the gas molecules have less kinetic energy (move around less) so they do attract each other at high pressures the gas molecules are forced closer together so that the volume of the gas molecules becomes significant compared to the volume the gas occupies

Under ordinary conditions, deviations from Ideal Gas behaviour are so slight that they can be neglected A gas which deviates from Ideal Gas behaviour is called a non-ideal gas.

CONSTRAINTS: For the purpose of calculations, it is convenient to place the ideal gas law in the form:

where the subscripts i and f refer to the initial and final states of some process. If the temperature is constrained to be constant, this becomes:

which is referred to as Boyle's Law. If the pressure is constant, then the ideal gas law takes the form

which has been historically called Charles' Law. It is appropriate for experiments performed in the presence of a constant atmospheric pressure. References: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/kinetic/idegas.html http://www.mikeblaber.org/oldwine/chm1045/notes/Gases/IdealGas/Gases04.htm http://www.ausetute.com.au/idealgas.html