5-1: Boyle’s Law: Pressure and Volume

Robert Boyle, a philosopher and theologian, studied the properties of gases in the 17th century. He noticed
that gases behave similarly to springs; when compressed or expanded, they tend to ‘spring’ back to their
original volume. He published his findings in 1662 in a monograph entitled The Spring of the Air and Its
Effects. You will make observations similar to those of Robert Boyle and learn about the relationship
between the pressure and volume of an ideal gas.

1. Start Virtual ChemLab, select Gas Properties, and then select Boyle’s Law: Pressure and Volume
from the list of assignments. The lab will open in the Gases laboratory.

2. Note that the balloon in the chamber is filled with 0.300 moles of an ideal gas (MW = 4 g/mol) at a
temperature of 298 K, a pressure of 1.00 atm, and a volume of 7.336 L. To the left of the Pressure
LCD controller is a lever that will decrease and increase the pressure as it is moved up or down; the
digit changes depending on how far the lever is moved. Digits may also be clicked directly to type in
the desired number. You may want to practice adjusting the lever so that you can decrease and
increase the pressure accurately. Make sure the moles, temperature, and pressure are returned to their
original values before proceeding.

3. Click on the Lab Book to open it. Back in the laboratory, click on the Save button to start recording P,
V, T, and n data to the lab book. Increase the pressure from 1 atm to 10 atm one atmosphere at a time.
Click Stop to stop recording data, and a data link icon will appear in the lab book. To help keep track
of your data links, enter ‘Ideal Gas 1’ next to the link.

4. Zoom Out by clicking the green arrow next to the Save button. Click Return Tank on the gas
cylinder. On the table underneath the experimental chamber is a switch to choose Real gases or Ideal
gases. Click on the Ideal Gases and choose the cylinder labeled Ideal 8 (Ideal 8 MW = 222 g/mol).
Click on the balloon chamber to Zoom In and set the temperature, pressure, and moles to 298 K, 1.00
atm, and 0.300 moles, respectively. Repeat the experiment with this gas labeling the data link as
‘Ideal Gas 8.’

5. Zoom Out by clicking on the green arrow next to the Save button. Click on the Stockroom and then on
the Clipboard and select Balloon Experiment N2. Again, set the temperature, pressure, and moles to
298 K, 1.00 atm, and 0.300 moles, respectively. You may have to click on the Units button to change
some of the variables to the correct units. Repeat the experiment with this gas labeling the data link
‘Real Gas N2.’

6. Select the lab book and click on the data link iocn for Ideal Gas 1. In the Data Viewer window, select
all the data by clicking on the Copy Data button and copy the data using CTRL-C for Windows or
CMD-C for Macintosh. Paste the data into a spreadsheet program and create a graph with volume on
the x-axis and pressure on the y-axis. Also create a graph for your data from Ideal Gas 8 and Real Gas
N2.

7. Based on your data, what relationship exists between the pressure and the volume of a gas (assuming

a constant temperature)? when pressure increases volume decreases

Text
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8. Look up a statement of Boyle’s Law in your textbook. Do your results further prove this? yes

9. Complete the tables from the data saved in your lab book. Use only a sampling of the data for
pressures at 1, 3, 6, and 9 atm.

Ideal Gas 1 MW = 4 g/mol

Volume (L) Pressure (atm) PV Product (P  V)
7.335895 1 7.335895
2.445298 3 7.335894
1.222649 6 7.335894
0.8150995 9 7.335895

Ideal Gas 8 MW = 222 g/mol

Volume (L) Pressure (atm) PV Product (P  V)
7.335895 1 7.335895
2.445298 3 7.335894
1.222649 6 7.335894
0.8150995 9 7.335895
Real Gas N2
Volume (L) Pressure (atm) PV Product (P  V)
7.334204 1 7.334204
2.443806 3 7.331418
1.221250 6 7.327500
0.8137625 9 7.323863

10. What conclusions can you make about the PV product with Ideal Gas 1, MW = 4 g/mol?

it does not change

How is the PV product affected using an ideal gas with a different molecular weight (Ideal Gas 8)?

there is no change

11. How are your results affected using a Real Gas (N2)?

the pressure increases, but the PB product decreases

12. You may want to repeat the experiment several times using different size pressure changes.

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5-2: Charles’ Law: Temperature and Volume

Charles’ Law was discovered by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1802; it was based on unpublished work
done by Jacques Charles in about 1787. Charles had found that a number of gases expand to the same
extent over the same 80 degree temperature interval. You will be observing the relationship between the
temperature and volume of a gas similar to that studied by Charles.

1. Start Virtual ChemLab, select Gas Properties, and then select Charles’s Law: Temperature and
Volume from the list of assignments. The lab will open in the Gases laboratory.

2. Note that the balloon in the chamber is filled with 0.050 moles of an ideal gas (MW = 4 g/mol) at a
temperature of 100C, a pressure of 1.00 atm, and a volume of 1.531 L. To the left of the
Temperature LCD controller is a lever that will decrease and increase the temperature as it is moved
up or down; the digit changes depending on how far the lever is moved. Digits may also be clicked
directly to type in the desired number, or they can be rounded by clicking on the R button. You may
want to practice adjusting the lever so that you can decrease and increase the temperature accurately.
Make sure the moles, temperature, and pressure are returned to their original values before
proceeding.

3. Click on the Lab Book to open it. Back in the laboratory, click on the Save button to start recording P,
V, T, and n data to the lab book. Increase the temperature from 100C to 1000C 100 degrees at a
time. Click Stop to stop recording data, and a data link icon will appear in the lab book. To help keep
track of your data links, enter ‘Ideal Gas 1’ next to the link.

4. Zoom Out by clicking on the green arrow next to the Save button. Click on the Stockroom and then on
the Clipboard and select Balloon Experiment N2. Again, set the temperature, pressure, and moles to
100C, 1.00 atm, and 0.050 moles, respectively. You may have to click on the Units button to change
some of the variables to the correct units. Repeat the experiment with this gas labeling the data link
‘Real Gas N2.’

5. Select the lab book and click on the data link icon for Ideal Gas 1. In the Data Viewer window, select
all the data by clicking on the Copy Data. Paste the data into a spreadsheet program and create a
graph with temperature on the x-axis and volume on the y-axis. Also create a graph for the data
labeled Real Gas N2.

6. Based on your data, what relationship exists between the temperature and the volume of a gas
(assuming a constant pressure)?
temperature is proportional to the volume

7. Look up a statement of Charles’ Law in your textbook. Do your results further prove this? yes

8. Using the spreadsheet program, fit the ideal gas data to a line or printout the graph and use a ruler to
draw the best line through the data. The lowest possible temperature is reached when an ideal gas has
zero volume. This temperature is the x-intercept for the plotted line.

What is this temperature? -273 C

9. Now do the same analysis with the real gas data (N2). What temperature did you find? -273 C

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10. Under these conditions, does N2 behave like an ideal gas? yes

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5-3: Avogadro’s Law: Moles and Volume
In 1808, Joseph Gay-Lussac observed the law of combining values, which states that the volumes of gases
that react with one another react in the ratio of small whole numbers. Three years later, Amedeo
Avogadro built upon this observation by proposing what is now known as Avogadro’s hypothesis: Equal
volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules. Avogadro’s
Law, which states the relationship between moles and volume, followed from his hypothesis. You will be
observing the same principle that Avogadro stated two hundred years ago.

1. Start Virtual ChemLab, select Gas Properties, and then select Avogadro’s Law: Moles and Volume
from the list of assignments. The lab will open in the Gases laboratory. You will see LCD controllers
on the left for volume, pressure, temperature and number of moles. You may change the units for
volume, pressure, and temperature by clicking on the Units buttons. The balloon has been filled with
0.100 moles of an ideal gas and the pressure is 2.00 atm. Record the number of moles and the volume
(in L) in the data table below.

2. Click on the tenths digit on the Moles LCD controller and change the moles of gas in the balloon
from 0.1 to 0.2 mole. Record the number of moles and volume in the data table. Repeat for 0.3, 0.4,
and 0.5 moles.

DataTable
n (moles) V (L)
.10 1.223
.20 2.445
.30 3.668
.40 4.891
.50 6.113

3. Based on your observations, what can you state about the relationship between moles and volume

of a gas?

Moles go up as volume goes up. Therefore they are directly proportional to eachother

4. Write a mathematical equation using a proportionality constant (k) with units of L/mol that expresses
what you have learned about Avogadro’s Law. Determine the value of k.

V=kn
k=V/n
6.113L/.50 mol
= 12.225 L/mol

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