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ideal gas law (Topic)

The equation that characterizes any amount of a gas is

$\displaystyle pV = nRT $
where $p$ is the pressure, $V$ the volume, $n$ the number of the gas moles and $T$ the absolute temperature of the gas; $R$ the universal gas constant (approximately 8.314472 $\frac{\mbox{Pa}\cdot\mbox{m}^3}{\mbox{mol}\cdot\mbox{K}}$).

The gas law is accurately valid for an ideal gas, but a good approximation for real gases.

The law contains the following gas laws:

  • Boyle–Mariotte law ($pV =$  constant when $n$ and $T$ are constants)
  • Gay–Lussac law ( $\frac{V}{T} =$  constant when $n$ and $p$ are constants)
  • Avogadro's law (in equal conditions, equal volumes of different gases contain the same number of molecules)

Alternative definition

The ideal gas law can also be defined using Boltzmann's constant:

$\displaystyle pV = NkT $
The symbols are those defined above, with the difference that $N$ is the number of gas molecules, and $k$ is the Boltzmann constant, $k \approx 1.38 \times 10^{-23}$   JK$^{-1}$. This form is often preferred by physicists who consider the number of molecules to be more fundamental than the number of moles.



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"ideal gas law" is owned by pahio. [ full author list (2) ]

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Other names:  ideal gas equation

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Dalton's law (Derivation) by pahio

Cross-references: Boltzmann's constant, molecules, absolute temperature, volume
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This is version 8 of ideal gas law, born on 2006-05-27, modified 2008-11-24.
Object id is 178, canonical name is IdealGasLaw.
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Classification:
Physics Classification: 51.30.+i (Thermodynamic properties, equations of state )
 51.35.+a (Mechanical properties; compressibility)
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