Gas Laws: Boyle's, Gay-Lussac, Charles', Avogadro's, and Ideal Gas Law

The simple gas laws manipulate the four interdependent gas properties — pressure, temperature, volume, and the number of moles — to derive relationships between pairs of properties while holding the others constant.

According to Boyle’s law, when the temperature and number of moles of a gas are held constant, pressure and volume display an inverse relationship. As the volume decreases, the pressure exerted by the gas increases. The product of P and V, therefore, equals a constant. Under two different sets of conditions, the product of initial pressure and volume and the product of final pressure and volume are equal.

Now, if the volume and number of moles are held constant, pressure and temperature display a direct relationship. As the temperature rises, the particles move with greater speed and have more frequent high-energy collisions, and the pressure increases.

The ratio of P and T, therefore, equals a constant. This is the Gay-Lussac’s law, which is sometimes referred to as Amontons’s law. Under two different sets of conditions, the ratio of initial pressure and temperature and the ratio of final pressure and temperature are equal.

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