StellarIdeal Gases and Ideal Gas Law
Ideal gases are a simplified model that makes gases easier to analyze mathematically. The model assumes that gas particles have no volume and do not exert intermolecular forces on one another. Under these assumptions, gases follow the ideal gas law:
In this equation, P is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles, R is the gas constant, and T is temperature in Kelvin. This equation is often used to determine how pressure, volume, temperature, or amount of gas changes in a system.
Pressure may be measured in atmospheres, pascals, or millimeters of mercury, and volume may be measured in liters or cubic meters. Temperature must be in Kelvin because the Kelvin scale is absolute. Since the gas constant can appear in different numerical forms depending on the units used, it is important to match units carefully. When the amount of gas is constant, the ideal gas law can be rewritten into the combined gas law form, which shows that remains constant.