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8.8: Key Terms

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absolute zero | temperature at which the volume of a gas would be zero according to Charles’s law.

Amontons’s law | (also, Gay-Lussac’s law) pressure of a given number of moles of gas is directly proportional to its kelvin temperature when the volume is held constant

atmosphere (atm) | unit of pressure; 1 atm = 101,325 Pa

Avogadro’s law | volume of a gas at constant temperature and pressure is proportional to the number of gas molecules

bar | (bar or b) unit of pressure; 1 bar = 100,000 Pa

barometer | device used to measure atmospheric pressure

Boyle’s law | volume of a given number of moles of gas held at constant temperature is inversely proportional to the pressure under which it is measured

Charles’s law | volume of a given number of moles of gas is directly proportional to its kelvin temperature when the pressure is held constant

compressibility factor (Z) | ratio of the experimentally measured molar volume for a gas to its molar volume as computed from the ideal gas equation

Dalton’s law of partial pressures | total pressure of a mixture of ideal gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the component gases

diffusion | movement of an atom or molecule from a region of relatively high concentration to one of relatively low concentration (discussed in this chapter with regard to gaseous species, but applicable to species in any phase)

effusion | transfer of gaseous atoms or molecules from a container to a vacuum through very small openings

Graham’s law of effusion | rates of diffusion and effusion of gases are inversely proportional to the square roots of their molecular masses

hydrostatic pressure | pressure exerted by a fluid due to gravity

ideal gas | hypothetical gas whose physical properties are perfectly described by the gas laws

ideal gas constant (R) | constant derived from the ideal gas equation R = 0.08206 L atm mol–1 K–1 or 8.314 L kPa mol–1 K–1

ideal gas law | relation between the pressure, volume, amount, and temperature of a gas under conditions derived by combination of the simple gas laws

kinetic molecular theory | theory based on simple principles and assumptions that effectively explains ideal gas behavior

manometer | device used to measure the pressure of a gas trapped in a container

mean free path | average distance a molecule travels between collisions

mole fraction (X) | concentration unit defined as the ratio of the molar amount of a mixture component to the total number of moles of all mixture components

partial pressure | pressure exerted by an individual gas in a mixture

pascal (Pa) | SI unit of pressure; 1 Pa = 1 N/m2

pounds per square inch (psi) | unit of pressure common in the US

pressure | force exerted per unit area

rate of diffusion | amount of gas diffusing through a given area over a given time

root mean square speed (urms) | measure of average speed for a group of particles calculated as the square root of the average squared speed

standard conditions of temperature and pressure (STP) | 273.15 K (0 °C) and 1 atm (101.325 kPa)

standard molar volume | volume of 1 mole of gas at STP, approximately 22.4 L for gases behaving ideally

torr | unit of pressure;

van der Waals equation | modified version of the ideal gas equation containing additional terms to account for non-ideal gas behavior

vapor pressure of water | pressure exerted by water vapor in equilibrium with liquid water in a closed container at a specific temperature


This page titled 8.8: Key Terms is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax.

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