Gas Laws: Pressure, Volume,

and Hot Air

A Chemistry lesson for 10th
Grade Students created by
Warren Merkel

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Introduction
Welcome!
This interactive lesson will introduce
three ways of predicting the behavior of
gases: Boyles Law, Charles Law, and
the Ideal Gas Law. Never heard of
them? Dont worry thats the purpose of
this lesson!

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Navigation
Throughout this lesson, you will use buttons at
the bottom right corner of the page to navigate.
Takes you to the next page
Takes you to the previous page

Takes you to the Main Menu

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Main Menu
Lesson 1

Basic
Terminology

Lesson 3

Charles Law

Lesson 2

Boyles Law

Lesson 4

Ideal Gas Law

Review

Review of all four lessons

Lesson 1: Basic Terminology

This lesson reviews terms
used to describe the
properties and behavior of
gases.

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Opening thoughts
Have you ever:
Seen a hot air balloon?

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Opening thoughts
Have you ever:
Seen a hot air balloon?
Had a soda bottle spray all over you?
Baked (or eaten) a nice, fluffy cake?
These are all examples of gases at work!
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Properties of Gases
You can predict the behavior of gases
based on the following properties:
Pressure

Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature

Lets review each of these briefly

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You can predict the behavior of gases

based on the following properties:

Pressure
Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature

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Pressure
Pressure is defined as the force the gas
exerts on a given area of the container in
which it is contained. The SI unit for
pressure is the Pascal, Pa.
If youve ever inflated a tire,
youve probably made a
pressure measurement in
pounds (force) per square inch
(area).
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You can predict the behavior of gases

based on the following properties:
Pressure

Volume
Amount (moles)
Temperature

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Volume
Volume is the three-dimensional space inside
the container holding the gas. The SI unit for
volume is the cubic meter, m3. A more common
and convenient unit is the liter, L.
Think of a 2-liter bottle of soda to get
an idea of how big a liter is.
(OK, how big two of them are)

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You can predict the behavior of gases

based on the following properties:
Pressure

Volume

Amount (moles)
Temperature

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Amount (moles)
Amount of substance is tricky. As weve already
learned, the SI unit for amount of substance is the mole,
mol. Since we cant count molecules, we can convert
measured mass (in kg) to the number of moles, n, using
the molecular or formula weight of the gas.
By definition, one mole of a substance contains
approximately 6.022 x 1023 particles of the
substance. You can understand why we use mass
and moles!

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You can predict the behavior of gases

based on the following properties:
Pressure

Volume
Amount (moles)

Temperature
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Temperature
Temperature is the measurement of heator how
fast the particles are moving. Gases, at room
temperature, have a lower boiling point than things
that are liquid or solid at the same temperature.
Remember: Not all substance freeze, melt or
evaporate at the same temperature.

Water will freeze at zero degrees Celsius.

However Alcohol will not freeze at this
temperature.

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How do they all relate?

Some relationships of gases may be
easy to predict. Some are more subtle.
Now that we understand the factors that
affect the behavior of gases, we will
study how those factors interact.

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How do they all relate?

Some relationships of gases may be
easy to predict. Some are more subtle.
Now that we understand the factors that
affect the behavior of gases, we will
study how those factors interact.

Lets go!
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Lesson 2: Boyles Law

This lesson introduces Boyles
Law, which describes the
relationship between pressure and
volume of gases.

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Boyles Law

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volume

pressure

This law is named for Charles Boyle, who

studied the relationship between pressure,
p, and volume, V, in the mid-1600s.
Boyle determined that for the same amount
of a gas at constant temperature, results in
an inverse relationship:
when one goes up, the other
comes down.

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What does Boyles Law mean?

Suppose you have a cylinder with a piston in the
top so you can change the volume. The cylinder
has a gauge to measure pressure, is contained so
the amount of gas is constant, and can be
maintained at a constant temperature.
A decrease in volume will result in increased
pressure.
Hard to picture? Lets fix that!

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Boyles Law at Work

Doubling the pressure reduces the volume by half. Conversely, when the
volume doubles, the pressure decreases by half.
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Lesson 2 Complete!
This concludes Lesson 2 on Boyles Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 3 to learn about how
temperature fits in.
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Lesson 3: Charles Law

This lesson introduces Charles
Law, which describes the
relationship between volume and
temperature of gases.

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Charles Law

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temperature

volume

This law is named for Jacques Charles, who

studied the relationship volume, V, and
temperature, T, around the turn of the 19th
century.
This defines a direct relationship:
With the same amount of gas he found that
as the volume increases the temperature
also increases. If the temperature
decreases than the volume also
decreases.

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What does Charles Law mean?

Suppose you have that same cylinder with a piston
in the top allowing volume to change, and a
heating/cooling element allowing for changing
temperature. The force on the piston head is
constant to maintain pressure, and the cylinder is
contained so the amount of gas is constant.
An increase in temperature results in increased
volume.
Hard to picture? Lets fix it (again)!
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Charles Law at Work

As the temperature increases, the volume increases. Conversely, when

the temperature decreases, volume decreases.
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Lesson 3 Complete!
This concludes Lesson 3 on Charles Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 4 to put all the pieces
together with the Ideal Gas Law.
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Lesson 3 Complete!
This concludes Lesson 3 on Charles Law!

Click the Main Menu button below, then

select Lesson 4 to put all the pieces
together with the Ideal Gas Law.
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Mission complete!

You have completed the lessons and

review. Congratulations!
You should now have a better
understanding of the properties of gases,
how they interrelate, and how to use them to
predict gas behavior.
Please click on the button below to reset the
lesson for the next student. Thanks!
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