Ideal gas law

How it is used

Here n is the number of moles and R ≈ 8.31 J/(mol·K); physicists also write pV = NkT, with N molecules and Boltzmann's constant k. Temperature must be in kelvin. Also called the ideal gas equation or the equation of state of an ideal gas.

Example sentences

1. Use the ideal gas law to find the pressure of 2 mol of gas in a 0.05 m³ container at 300 K.

2. The ideal gas law assumes that the molecules take up no volume and do not attract each other.

Common collocations

• ideal gas equation
• molar gas constant
• Boltzmann constant
• Boyle's law
• Charles's law

Related terms

• pressureThe force acting on each unit of area of a surface, found by dividing force by area. It is measured in pascals (Pa), where one pascal is one newton per square metre.
• temperatureA measure of how hot or cold something is, linked to the average kinetic energy of its particles. In science it is measured in kelvin (K) or degrees Celsius (°C).
• absolute zeroThe lowest possible temperature, 0 K or −273.15 °C, at which particles have the least energy they can possibly have. It can be approached but never actually reached.
• inversely proportionalDescribes two quantities linked so that when one doubles, the other halves. Their product stays constant, and a graph of one against the other is a curve, not a straight line.
• first law of thermodynamicsThe principle that the change in a system's internal energy equals the heat supplied to it minus the work it does. It is the conservation of energy applied to heat and work.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• ideal gas law · Chemical Engineering

More terms: Heat and Thermodynamics

• heat
• specific heat capacity
• entropy
• heat transfer
• latent heat