Gay-Lussac's law is a relationship between pressure and temperature in ideal gases and constant volume. What is the new temperature if the pressure increases to 1.1 atm?
The two variables that were measured at the same time and which can get "paired up" are 60°F (T₁) and .9 atm (P₁).
Before we continue, we must convert that temperature to an absolute scale.
To change Fahrenheit to Rankine, we add 459.67 and so we get:
T₁ = 60°F + 459.67 = 519.67 Rankine.
P₂ is 1.1 atm and so we are ready to calculate T₂.
Solving Gay-Lussac's Law for T₂ we get:
T₂ = P₂ T₁ ÷ P₁ T₂ = 1.1 atm 519.67R ÷ .9 atm T₂ = 635.15R
Using the calculator, we click on the T2 button.
We then enter the 3 numbers into the correct boxes then click "CALCULATE" and get our answer of 635.15 Rankine.
This eliminates all formatting but it is better than seeing no output at all. We have to be aware that both problems are examples of real gases, whereas all of the formulas are only 100% accurate for ideal ones. For an ideal gas, the pressure of the gas is directly proportional to the temperature of the gas, as long as the volume and amount of gas remains constant.
Formulas
Gay Lussac’s Law is explained with math in the following ways.
The pressure of an ideal gas is proportional to the temperature of the gas:
P ∝ T
The pressure divided by the temperature of the gas in a given state, equals a constant value:
P / T = Constant
The division of pressure by the temperature of the ideal gas in one state, equals the division of pressure by the temperature of the ideal gas in another state, as long as the gas volume and amount of gas do not change between the two states.
P1 / T1 = P2 / T2
The formulas used by this Gay-Lussac’s law calculator to determine each individual parameter are:
P1 = P2 · T1 / T2
T1 = T2 · P1 / P2
P2 = P1 · T2 / T1
T2 = T1 · P2 / P1
Symbols
- P1 = Pressure of the first gas state
- T1 = Temperature of the first gas state
- P2 = Pressure of the second gas state
- T2 = Temperature of the second gas state
P1
This is the absolute pressure of the first gas state.
T1
This is the temperature of the first gas state.
P2
This is the absolute pressure of the second gas state.
T2
This is the temperature of the second gas state.