Boyle’s Law

Boyle’s law states the relation between volume and pressure at constant temperature and mass. It states that under a
constant temperature when the pressure on a gas increases its volume decreases. In other words according to
Boyle’s law volume is inversely proportional to pressure when the temperature and the number of molecules are
constant.

p ∝ 1/V
p = k1 1/V

k1 here is a proportionality constant, V is the Volume and p is the pressure. On rearranging,

we get: k1= pV. If a fixed mass of gas undergoes an expansion at constant temperature then
the final volume and pressure shall be p2 and V2. The initial volume and initial pressure here
is p1 and V1 then according to Boyle’s law: p1×V1 = p2×V2 = constant (k1)

So according to Boyle’s law, if the pressure is doubled then at constant temperature the
volume of that gas is reduced to half. The reason being the intermolecular force between the molecules of the
gaseous substance. In a free state, a gaseous substance occupies a larger volume of the container due to the
scattered molecules.

1. At constant temperature, what happens to the pressure when the volume is doubled?
2. A sample of hydrogen has a volume of 25 L under a pressure of 5 atm. What will the pressure of this gas
be if the volume were decreased to 5 L?
3. An ideal gas exerts a pressure of 3atm in a 3L container. The container is at a temperature of 298K.
What will be the final pressure if the volume of the container changes to 2L? 4.5atm

4. A sample of oxygen gas has a volume of 225mL when its pressure is 1.12atm. What will the volume of the
gas be at a pressure of 0.98atm if the temperature remains constant? 257mL

5. A helium balloon has a volume of 735mL when it is at ground level. The balloon is transported to an
elevation of 5km, where the pressure is only 0.8atm. At this altitude the gas occupies a volume of 1286mL.
Assuming the temperature has remained the same, what was the ground level pressure?

P1V2=P2V2
P1 (735mL) = (0.8atm) (1286mL)
P1= (0.8atm) (1286mL) 735mL
P1=1.4atm

Charle’s Law
Charles's Law states that the volume of a given mass of gas varies directly with the absolute temperature of the
gas when pressure is kept constant. The absolute temperature is temperature measured with the Kelvin scale.
The Kelvin scale must be used because zero on the Kelvin scale corresponds to a complete stoppage of
molecular motion.

When a gas is heated, like a burner in a hot air balloon, the gas expands. So when the air inside the balloon
expands, it becomes less dense and provides the lift for the hot air balloon. Hot air is lighter than cool air
because it has less mass per unit of volume. To keep the balloon up, they have a burner that heats the air inside
the balloon using propane.

This means that with the increase in temperature the volume

shall increase while with decreasing temperature the volume
decreases. 

1. Carbon dioxide is usually formed when gasoline is burned. If 30.0 L of CO 2 is produced at a
temperature of 1.00 x 103 °C and allowed to reach room temperature (25.0 °C) without any
pressure changes, what is the new volume of the carbon dioxide?
2. A 600.0 mL sample of nitrogen is warmed from 77.0 °C to 86.0 °C. Find its new volume if the
pressure remains constant.
3. What volume change occurs to a 400.0 mL gas sample as the temperature increases from 22.0 °C
to 30.0 °C?
4. A balloon has a volume of 2500.0 mL on a day when the temperature is 30.0 °C. If the
temperature at night falls to 10.0 °C, what will be the volume of the balloon if the pressure
remains constant?
5. If 540.0 mL of nitrogen at 0.00 °C is heated to a temperature of 100.0 °C what will be the new
volume of the gas?
6. If 15.0 liters of neon at 25.0 °C is allowed to expand to 45.0 liters, what must the new
temperature be to maintain constant pressure?

The pressure law

 The pressure law states: "For a fixed mass of gas, at a constant volume, the pressure (p) is directly proportional
to the absolute temperature (T)."

Pressure ∝ Temperature

Pressure
= constant
Temperature

Gas molecules inside a volume are constantly moving around freely. During this molecular motion they
frequently collide with each other and with the surface of any enclosure there may. The force of impact of a
single one such collision is too small to be sensed. However, taken all together, this large number of impacts of
gas molecules exerts a considerable force onto the surface of the enclosure: the gas pressure.

The larger the number of collisions per area of enclosure, the larger the pressure:

1. The gas in an aerosol can is under a pressure of 3.00atm3.00atm at a temperature of 25oC25oC. It is

dangerous to dispose of an aerosol can by incineration. What would the pressure in the aerosol can be at a
temperature of 845oC845oC?
2. A 30.0 L sample of nitrogen inside a rigid, metal container at 20.0 °C is placed inside an oven whose
temperature is 50.0 °C. The pressure inside the container at 20.0 °C was at 3.00 atm. What is the pressure of the
nitrogen after its temperature is increased to 50.0 °C?
3. Determine the pressure change when a constant volume of gas at 1.00 atm is heated from 20.0 °C to 30.0
°C.
4. If a gas is cooled from 323.0 K to 273.15 K and the volume is kept constant what final pressure would
result if the original pressure was 750.0 mmHg?
5. If a gas in a closed container is pressurized from 15.0 atmospheres to 16.0 atmospheres and its original
temperature was 25.0 °C, what would the final temperature of the gas be in degrees Celsius?
6. A 30.0 L sample of nitrogen inside a metal container at 20.0 °C is placed inside an oven whose
temperature is 50.0 °C. The pressure inside the container at 20.0 °C was 3.00 atm. What is the pressure of the
nitrogen after its temperature is increased?
The Combined Gas Law

The combined gas law combines the three gas laws: Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law.
It states that the ratio of the product of pressure and volume and the absolute temperature of a gas is
equal to a constant.
PV/T = k
P1V1 / T1 = P2V2 / T2

A sample of argon has a volume of 5.0 dm3 and the pressure is 0.92 atm. If the final temperature is 30.°
C, the final volume is 5.7 L, and the final pressure is 800. mm Hg, what was the initial temperature of
the argon?
The initial temperature of a 1.00 liter sample of argon is 20.° C. The pressure is decreased from 720 mm
Hg to 360 mm Hg and the volume increases to 2.14 liters. What was the change in temperature of the
argon?