Gas Laws

Gas laws are used to demonstrate gas behavior. The ideal-gas law is a broad description of gas
behavior from which more specific laws, the individual gas laws, are combined. This handout
will examine individual gas laws, the ideal-gas law, and describe how they can be applied to find
the density and partial pressure of a gas. In addition, the topic of non-ideal gas behavior will be
explored using the van der Waals equation.

You can navigate to specific sections of this handout by clicking the links below.
The Individual Gas Laws: pg. 1
The Ideal-Gas Law: pg. 2
STP Conditions: pg. 3
Solving Gas Law Problems: pg. 3
Van der Waals Equation for Non-Ideal Gases: pg. 5
Gas Density and Molar Mass: pg. 5
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures and Mole Fractions: pg. 6
Practice Problems: pg. 8

The Individual Gas Laws

Pressure (P), volume (V), number of moles (n), and temperature (T) are the four variables
required to define the physical condition of a gas. The individual gas laws describe the
relationship between two of the four gas law variables, given that the remaining two variables
are held constant. The table below illustrates which individual gas law should be used,
depending on the circumstance.
 Avogadro’s Law Boyle’s Law Charles’s Law Gay-Lussac’s Law

V1 V2 P1 V1 = P2 V2 V1 V2 P1 P2
= = =
n1 n2 T1 T2 T1 T2

Constant: pressure, Constant: moles, Constant: pressure, Constant: volume,

temperature temperature moles moles

Examples:
Determine which individual gas law best describes the following situations:

a. As we inhale, the rib cage expands, and the diaphragm moves downward, increasing
the volume of the lungs and decreasing the gas pressure inside the lungs. Exhalation is
the reverse process—the volume of the lungs decreases and the gas pressure increases,
forcing air out of the lungs.

Answer: Boyle’s Law, which describes how the two variables V and P change in
relation to each other. As volume increases, pressure decreases, and vice versa.
Volume and pressure are inversely proportional.

b. A common problem car owners may encounter is slightly deflated tires when the
temperature begins to drop during the winter months.

Answer: Charles’s Law, which describes how V and T change in relation to each
other. As the temperature decreases, the volume of the tires also decreases.
Volume and temperature are directly proportional.

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 c. You are blowing up a balloon and notice that as you add more air, the balloon gets
bigger.

Answer: Avogadro’s Law, which describes how the two variables V and n change
in relation to each other. As the number of moles of gas inside the balloon
increase, the volume also increases. Volume and number of moles are directly
proportional.

d. A common warning on aerosol cans is to avoid extreme temperatures, lest the

container explode due to the resulting increase in pressure.

Answer: Gay-Lussac’s Law, which describes how the two variables T and P
change in relation to each other. Aerosol containers should be kept away from
extreme heat because as temperature increases, pressure increases.
Temperature and pressure are directly proportional.

The Ideal-Gas Law

The ideal-gas law offers a broad description of gas behavior. It is obtained by combining the
individual gas laws previously described. The ideal-gas law assumes there are no intermolecular
forces, and the combined volume of the molecules is negligible.

The ideal-gas law also introduces the gas constant, represented by the variable “R.” There are
many possible values and units of R, and the value it has should be selected based on the units
given in the problem (note: T must always be expressed in kelvins for ideal-gas law problems).
Common units and values of R include:

• 0.08206 L-atm/mol-K

• 8.314 J/mol-K

• 62.36 L-torr/mol-K

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The relationship between the gas constant R and the familiar variables P, V, n, and T can be
expressed using the following equation:
P⋅V=n⋅ R ⋅T

The ideal-gas law can also be used to describe the state of a gas at two different time frames,
which is demonstrated by the next equation. The variables on the left side of the equation
represent one time frame, while those on the right represent the other time frame.

P1 V1 P2 V2
=
n1 RT1 n2 RT2
STP Conditions

STP is a concept used in many gas law word problems. STP is an abbreviation for standard
temperature and pressure, and refers to any gas at 0°C (273.15 K) and 1 atm of pressure
(101.325 kPa). The volume occupied by one mole of gas at STP is 22.4 L and is also referred to
as molar volume.

Solving Gas Law Problems

Here is a step-by-step process for solving gas law problems:

1. Identify which variables (out of P, V, n, T) are known and which variables are unknown.
2. Make sure all values have the appropriate units, especially T and R. Remember that T
must always be expressed in kelvins.
3. Rearrange the ideal-gas law equation to solve for the unknown variable.
4. Plug in values, and solve for unknown variable.
5. Check your work by making sure units cancel to provide the desired unit for the
unknown variable.

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Example:

An aerosol spray can at sea level (1 atm pressure) and room temperature (25.0°C) with a
volume of 350.00 mL contains 2.30g of propane gas (C3H8) as a propellant. A label on the can
warns against exposing it to temperatures above 140°F. What would be the pressure (in atm)
inside the can at this critical temperature?

1. Identify which variables (P, V, n, T) are known and which variables are unknown.

Known Unknown
V = 350.00 mL n
Mass = 2.30g C3H8 P
T = 140°F

The number of moles (n) can be found using the provided mass. Convert grams
to moles using the molar mass of propane.

1 mol C3 H8
2.30g C3 H8 × = .0521 mol C3 H8
44.121g C3 H8

2. Make sure all values have appropriate units, especially R and T. Because the problem
L∙atm
asks for the pressure in atm, 0.08206 should be the value of R. This means that
mol∙K

the given volume needs to be converted from mL to L.

1L
350.00 mL × = .35000 L
1000 mL

Since the temperature was given in Fahrenheit, it needs to be converted to

kelvin.
5
TKelvin = �(140°F − 32) × � + 273 = 333 K
9

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 3. Rearrange the ideal-gas law to solve for the unknown variable.

nRT
P=
𝑉𝑉
4. Plug in values, and solve for P.
L ∙ atm
0.0521 mol × 0.08206 × 333 K
P= mol ∙ K
. 35000 L

P = 4.07 atm
5. Check the answer by making sure units cancel, providing the desired unit for the
unknown variable. In this case, after cancelling all units, only atm (a unit of pressure)
should be left over. This is why previous steps focused on converting the known
values into the proper units.
L ∙ atm
nRT 0.0521 mol × 0.08206 mol ∙ K × 333 K
P= =
𝑉𝑉 . 350 L

Van der Waals Equation for Non-Ideal Gases

The van der Waals equation is a more accurate alternative for the ideal-gas law that considers
both intermolecular forces and gas molecule volume. The equation combines two new
variables, called van der Waals constants (a and b), with familiar values to represent
intermolecular forces and volume of molecules. Van der Waals constants are experimentally
determined values that can be found in any textbook. The following figure demonstrates how
the ideal-gas law equation is modified to account for intermolecular forces and molecule
volume:
𝑎𝑎𝑛𝑛2
P · V = n · R · T → �𝑃𝑃 + � · (V − nb) = nRT
𝑉𝑉 2

Gas Density and Molar Mass

The ideal-gas law has applications beyond solving for the four variables P, V, n, and T. Gas
density can also be found using a form of the ideal-gas law. Incorporating molar mass (MA),
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 g
which has units of grams per mole ( ), into the ideal-gas law equation provides the means to
mol

solve for the density of a gas. The equation below demonstrates how to find gas density, d,
using the modified form of the ideal-gas law:
n ⋅ MA P ⋅ MA
d= =
V R⋅T

Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures and Mole Fractions

When gases are physically (not chemically) mixed in a container, they all contribute to the
container’s pressure. Therefore, total pressure on a container caused by a mixture of gases can
be isolated into the individual pressures of each gas or their partial pressures.

The equation below shows how individual gas pressures are added to determine the total
pressure of the container, where Ptotal is the total pressure of the container, and PA, PB, etc. are
the pressures of individual gases:

PTotal = PA + PB + PC+ …

The moles of one gas in a mixture divided by the total number of moles in the same mixture is
called a mole fraction. A mole fraction can be used to relate the partial pressure of a gas and
the total pressure of a gas mixture. This is demonstrated in the next equation, where PA is the
partial pressure of gas A, PTotal is the total pressure of the container, XA is the mole fraction of A,
and nA and nTotal are the number of moles of gas A and the total moles of gas in the container,
respectively.

nA
PA = XA ⋅ Ptotal , where XA =
ntotal

Example:

At 22.4 L and 0.00°C, assuming the gas behaves ideally, the pressure exerted by 10.00
mol of O2 is 10.0 atm.

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 A. Use the van der Waals equation to determine the pressure of 10.00 mol O2 at
22.4 L and 0°C. The van der Waals constant a for O2 is 1.36 atm-L2/mol2. The van der
Waals constant b for O2 is 0.0318 L/mol. Does the ideal-gas law over- or
underestimate HCN’s pressure at the given conditions?

i. Rearrange the van der Waals equation to solve for P.

n ⋅ R ⋅ T an2
P= − 2
V − nb V
ii. Plug in values.

L ⋅ atm atm ⋅ L2 2
10.00 mol ⋅ 0.08206 ⋅ 273.15 K 1.36 2 × (10.00 mol)
P= mol ⋅ K − mol
L (22.4 L)2
22.4 L − (10.00 × 0.0318 )
mol

iii. Solve for P.

224.147 136
P= − = 9.88 atm
22.082 501.76

iv. Compare values. The answer produced by the van der Waals equation is
less than 10.00 atm. Therefore, the ideal-gas law overestimates oxygen’s
pressure at the given conditions.

B. Find the density of O2 at the given conditions.

i. Use the number of moles of O2 (n), molar mass of O2 (MA), and the
volume of the container (V) to find density.
g
10.00 mol × 31.998
d= mol
22.4 L
ii. Solve for d.
g
d = 14.3
L
C. A mixture of 2.00g of O2 (g) and 1.50g of CO2 (g) is placed in a 20.0 L vessel at 0°C.
What is the partial pressure of each gas, and what is the total pressure in the vessel?

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 i. First, convert grams of each substance to moles.
1 mol
2.00g 𝑂𝑂2 × = 0.0625 mol
31.998g
1 mol
1.50g 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 × = 0.0341 mol
44.009g

ii. Use ideal-gas law to solve for P, the partial pressure of each gas.
𝐿𝐿 ∙ 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
nRT (0.0625 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚)(0.08206 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ∙ 𝐾𝐾 )(273.15 𝐾𝐾)
P𝑂𝑂2 = = = 0.0700 atm
V 20.0 𝐿𝐿
𝐿𝐿 ∙ 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
nRT (0.0341 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚)(0.08206 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ∙ 𝐾𝐾 )(273.15 𝐾𝐾)
𝑃𝑃𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 = = = 0.0382 atm
V 20.0 𝐿𝐿

iii. Add the partial pressures of both gases to obtain the total pressure in the
vessel.

Ptotal = 0.0700 atm + 0.0382 atm = 0.108 atm

D. Using answers from the previous question, calculate the mole fraction of O2.
i. A mole fraction is a ratio of the number of moles of one substance to the
total number of moles present in the container. Therefore:

0.0625 mol 𝑂𝑂2

X𝑂𝑂2 = = 0.647
0.0966 mol total

Practice:
1. A 1.35g sample of HCl gas at 30.0°C occupies 550.0 mL. The pressure inside the
container is decreased from 610.15 kPa to 310.15 kPa. What volume will the HCl occupy
at this new pressure?
2. What will be the pressure (in atm) of a 0.50 mol sample of CO in a 2.0 L container at
room temperature (25.0°C)?
3. Find the volume (in liters) of 3.27g of N2 at 37.0°C and 400.0 kPa.
4. What is the density of a sample of NH3 at 0.978 atm and 165.5°C?
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 5. Find the partial pressure of N2 in a mixture of CO2, O2, and H2O at 2.5 atm, with partial
pressures of 0.10 atm, 0.40 atm, and 0.70 atm, respectively.
6. Earth’s atmosphere is composed of 78.0 mol % N2, 21.0 mol % O2, and 0.90 mol % Ar.
The remaining 0.10% is comprised of trace gases like CO2. If the atmospheric pressure is
755 torr, what is the partial pressure of N2 in this mixture?
7. A sample of 0.50 mol sulfur dioxide (SO2) is confined to a 2.0 L container at 20.0°C. Use
the van der Waals equation to solve for P, the pressure of SO2. The van der Waals
constants for SO2 are:
L2 ∙atm
a. a = 6.769
mol2
L
b. b = 0.05679
mol

Answers to Practice Problems:

1. 1082 mL
2. 6.1 atm
3. 0.752 L
4. 0.462 g/L
5. 1.3 atm
6. 589 torr
7. 5.7 atm

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