Properties of Gases

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and definitions related to the properties of gases, gas laws, and the behavior of real vs ideal gases.

Gas Properties

The properties of gases include significant volume changes with pressure and temperature, miscibility creating homogeneous mixtures, and being much less dense than solids and liquids.

Pressure

Gas pressure is the force exerted by gas particles colliding with the walls of its container.

Barometer

A barometer is a device used to measure atmospheric pressure.

Manometer

A manometer is an instrument used for measuring the pressure of a gas.

Boyle’s Law

States that at a fixed temperature, the pressure and volume of a gas have an inverse relationship (P1V1=P2V2).

Charles’s Law

States that at a fixed pressure, the volume of a gas is directly proportional to its temperature in Kelvin (V1/T1=V2/T2).

Avogadro’s Law

States that at fixed pressure and temperature, the volume of a gas is directly proportional to the number of moles of the gas (V1/n1 = V2/n2).

Ideal Gas Law

The equation PV = nRT, used to describe the relationship between pressure, volume, temperature, and moles of an ideal gas.

Dalton’s Law

States that in a mixture of gases, each gas exerts its own pressure and the total pressure is the sum of the partial pressures (Ptotal = P1 + P2 + P3 + …).

Mole Fraction

The ratio of the number of moles of a component in a mixture to the total number of moles in the mixture (Px = χxPTotal).

Kinetic Molecular Theory

A model that describes gas behavior with assumptions about negligible volume of gas molecules, constant random movement, and elastic collisions.

Root Mean Square (RMS) Speed

A method to calculate a single speed value for gas particles, representing their average speed.

Graham's Law

Describes the relationship between the rate of effusion or diffusion of a gas and its molar mass.

Real Gases

Gases that deviate from ideal behavior at high pressures and low temperatures due to interactions and volume of gas particles.

van der Waals equation

An equation that accounts for intermolecular forces and molecular size in real gases, expressed as (P + n²a) (V - nb) = nRT.