Charles’ Law, Boyle’s Law, Avogadro’s Principle, Gay-Lussac’s Law, and the Combined Gas Law
Why is it important to study the gas laws? You may not have thought about this but gas is essential to your life. As you breathe you are expanding and contracting your lungs. Your lungs filling and emptying is described by one of the gas laws. You will learn about four different gas laws in this topic.
The behavior of gases is a direct result of their lack of intermolecular forces. As you previously learned, ideal gases are fictional gases that fit a specific set of criteria allowing for the mathematical modeling of their behavior. In this topic, you will observe the various characteristics of gasses including volume, temperature, pressure, and amount of gas. These variables are interconnected in very predictable ways, most of which you have probably already observed in your everyday life, like breathing.
Essential Questions
- How do the four gas laws explain the behavior of gases?
- How are each of the gases used to solve for temperature, pressure, volume and amount of gas?