
The gas laws are a group of laws that govern the behaviour of gases by establishing relationships between their pressure, volume, temperature, and amount. Developed towards the end of the 18th century, the four fundamental gas laws are Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, Avogadro's Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law. These laws describe the behaviour of gases under varying conditions of pressure, volume, temperature, and amount of gas, with each law holding one constant and observing the variation in the other two. The combination of these four laws gives rise to the Ideal Gas Law, which relates to four variables: pressure, volume, number of moles, and temperature.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Boyle's Law | The volume of a given amount of gas held at a constant temperature varies inversely with the applied pressure when the temperature and mass are constant. |
| Charles' Law | The volume of a given mass of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature at constant pressure. |
| Avogadro's Law | The volume of gas is directly proportional to the number of molecules of gas when pressure and temperature are held constant. |
| Gay-Lussac's Law | The pressure exerted by a given mass and constant volume of an ideal gas on the sides of its container is directly proportional to its absolute temperature. |
| Ideal Gas Law | The combination of Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and Avogadro's Law. The Ideal Gas Law is also known as the Combined Gas Law. |
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What You'll Learn
- Boyle's Law: volume and pressure of a fixed amount of gas at a constant temperature
- Charles' Law: volume and temperature of a given mass of gas at constant pressure
- Avogadro's Law: volume and amount of gas in moles when pressure and temperature are constant
- Gay-Lussac's Law: pressure exerted by gas on its container and its absolute temperature
- Ideal Gas Law: a combination of the above laws, relating to pressure, volume, amount of gas, and temperature

Boyle's Law: volume and pressure of a fixed amount of gas at a constant temperature
Gas laws describe the behaviour of gases under fixed pressure, volume, amount, and absolute temperature conditions. The basic gas laws were discovered by the end of the 18th century, when scientists found that relationships between pressure, volume, and temperature of a sample of gas could be obtained.
Boyle's Law
Boyle's Law, published in 1662, states that the volume of a given amount of gas held at constant temperature varies inversely with the applied pressure when the temperature and mass are constant. This means that the product of the pressure and volume of a given mass of an ideal gas in a closed system is always constant.
The law can be expressed mathematically as PV = k, where P is the pressure of the gas, V is the volume of the gas, and k is a constant for a particular temperature and amount of gas.
For example, if the volume of a gas is doubled, the pressure will be halved, and vice versa. This is because as the volume increases, the gas particles spread out and strike the walls of the container less often, reducing the pressure. Conversely, if the volume decreases, the gas particles are forced closer together, increasing the pressure.
Boyle's Law can be used to predict the result of introducing a change in volume and pressure to the initial state of a fixed quantity of gas. For instance, it can explain the increase in pressure exerted by a gas on the walls of its container when the volume of the container is decreased, as in the case of a filled balloon being squeezed.
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Charles' Law: volume and temperature of a given mass of gas at constant pressure
Gas laws describe the behaviour of gases under varying conditions of pressure, volume, temperature, and amount. One of these laws is Charles's Law, also known as the law of volumes, which was formulated by Jacques Charles in the 1780s.
Charles's Law describes the relationship between the volume and temperature of a given mass of gas at constant pressure. It states that the volume of a gas is directly proportional to its temperature in Kelvin. In other words, as the temperature of a gas increases, its volume increases, and vice versa. This relationship can be represented mathematically as:
> V ∝ T
Where V is the volume and T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin.
This law is particularly useful for understanding the behaviour of gases under different temperature conditions. For example, when a container of gas is heated, its molecules gain kinetic energy and push against the walls of the container, increasing the volume. Conversely, when the temperature decreases, the volume of the gas also decreases.
Charles's Law is one of the fundamental gas laws, along with Boyle's Law and Avogadro's Law, which together form the basis of the Ideal Gas Law. The Ideal Gas Law combines these individual laws to describe the relationships between pressure, volume, temperature, and the amount of gas in a system.
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Avogadro's Law: volume and amount of gas in moles when pressure and temperature are constant
The gas laws describe the behaviour of gases under fixed pressure, volume, amount of gas, and absolute temperature conditions. The basic gas laws were discovered by the end of the 18th century when scientists found out that relationships between pressure, volume, and temperature of a sample of gas could be obtained which would hold approximations for all gases.
Avogadro's Law, also known as the mole-volume relationship, gives the relationship between volume and amount of gas in moles when pressure and temperature are held constant. It states that the volume of a gas, V, is proportional to the number of particles in the gas, n. In other words, the volume of gas increases as the amount of gas increases. This can be expressed mathematically as:
\[ \frac{V_1}{n_1} = \frac{V_2}{n_2} \]
Where V1 and n1 are the initial volume and number of moles, and V2 and n2 are the final volume and number of moles.
Avogadro's Law can be derived from the ideal gas law, which combines Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law. The ideal gas law describes the relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature for a fixed mass of gas:
\[ PV = nRT \]
Where P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles, R is the universal gas constant, and T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin. By isolating the ratio of volume, V, and moles, n, on one side of the ideal gas law equation, Avogadro's Law can be obtained.
Avogadro's Law applies to all ideal gases, which are theoretical substances that establish the relationship between pressure, volume, the amount of gas, and temperature. In an ideal gas, particles are extremely small, have constant and random motion, and do not interact with each other. However, real gases do not exist in an ideal state, and at very low temperatures or very high pressures, gas behaviour will deviate from the ideal gas law, and Avogadro's Law will not hold.
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Gay-Lussac's Law: pressure exerted by gas on its container and its absolute temperature
Gay-Lussac's Law, also known as Amontons' Law or the Pressure Law, was formulated by French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac in 1808. The law states that the pressure exerted by a gas of a given mass and constant volume is directly proportional to the absolute temperature of the gas. In other words, as the temperature of a gas in a rigid container increases, the pressure exerted by the gas on the container's walls also increases. Conversely, when the gas is cooled, its pressure decreases. This relationship between pressure and temperature can be understood through the concept of kinetic energy. As the temperature of a gas increases, its molecules gain more kinetic energy, causing them to strike the container walls with greater force and resulting in increased pressure.
Gay-Lussac's Law is derived from experimental observations and is mathematically expressed as P ∝ T, where P is pressure and T is absolute temperature. The standard calculations for this law are given as P / T = constant or Pi / Ti = Pf / Tf, where the initial pressure (Pi) and temperature (Ti) are equal to the final pressure (Pf) and temperature (Tf) for a fixed mass of gas. This law is particularly relevant in understanding the behaviour of gases in pressurised containers, such as aerosol cans or pressure cookers. For example, when a pressurised aerosol can is heated, the increase in gas pressure due to Gay-Lussac's Law can lead to an explosion, which is why such containers often carry warnings to keep them away from fire.
Gay-Lussac's Law is a variant of the ideal gas law, where the volume of the gas is held constant. It is similar to Charles' Law, which states that the volume of an ideal gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature at constant pressure. However, the key difference between these laws lies in the type of container used in experiments. While Charles' Law typically employs a flexible container, Gay-Lussac's Law uses a rigid container. By combining Gay-Lussac's Law with other fundamental gas laws, such as Boyle's Law and Charles' Law, scientists can derive the combined gas law or general gas equation, which describes the complex relationships between pressure, volume, and temperature for a fixed mass of gas.
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Ideal Gas Law: a combination of the above laws, relating to pressure, volume, amount of gas, and temperature
The ideal gas law combines several empirical gas laws to establish the relationship between four gas variables: pressure (P), volume (V), the amount of gas (n), and temperature (T).
The ideal gas law is a single generalization of the behaviour of gases, also known as an equation of state: PV = nRT. Here, R is the universal gas constant, with a value of 8.3144598 (kPa·L)/(mol·K) or 8.3145 Joules · mol-1 · K-1. When using the ideal gas law to calculate any property of a gas, the units of the gas constant must match those used in the equation, and the temperature must be in Kelvin.
The ideal gas law is a good approximation for most gases under moderate pressure and temperature. It assumes that the particles in the gas are extremely small, with constant, random, and straight-line motion. There are no forces between the particles, and they collide elastically with each other and the container walls.
The ideal gas law can be derived by combining Boyle's law, Charles's law, and Avogadro's law. Boyle's law states that the volume of a given amount of gas held at a constant temperature varies inversely with the applied pressure. Charles's law gives the relationship between volume and temperature if the pressure and the amount of gas are held constant. If the Kelvin temperature of a gas is increased, its volume increases, and vice versa. Avogadro's law gives the relationship between volume and the amount of gas in moles when pressure and temperature are held constant.
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Frequently asked questions
The basic gas laws are Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, Avogadro's Law, and Gay-Lussac's Law.
These laws describe the behaviour of gases by outlining the relationships between pressure, volume, temperature, and the amount of gas.
The Ideal Gas Law combines the fundamental gas laws by accounting for four variables: pressure (P), volume (V), the amount of gas (n), and temperature (T). The equation is PV = nRT, where R is the universal gas constant.

























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