CAIE Physics A-level

Topic 15: Ideal Gases

Notes

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15 - Ideal Gases

15.1 - The Mole

The amount of substance is a base quantity denoting the number of particles
in a substance. The base unit of the amount of substance is the mole, and
the number of moles is labelled ​n.​ One mole is defined as the number of
atoms in 12g of Carbon-12. This is just a very large number, called the
Avogadro Number, N A = 6.02 ✕ 1023 per mole.
The total number of particles in a substance is then N = nN A .

15.2 - Equation of State

The​ gas laws ​describe the experimental relationship between
pressure (p), volume (V), and temperature (T) for a fixed mass of
gas:
1. Boyle’s Law ​-When ​temperature​ is constant, ​pressure and
volume are inversely proportional pV = K

2. Charles’ Law ​-When ​pressure​ is constant, ​volume is directly

proportional to absolute temperature V /T = K

3. The Pressure Law ​-When ​volume​ is constant, ​pressure is

directly proportional to absolute temperature p/T = K

An ​ideal gas​ follows the gas laws perfectly, meaning that there is ​no other interaction other than
perfectly elastic collisions ​between the gas molecules​. This shows that no intermolecular forces
act between molecules.

pV
You can combine all the experimental gas laws into one to get​ T = K where the constant K is
dependent on the amount of gas used measured in ​moles​, therefore you can rewrite the above
pV
equation to get T = nR , where ​n​ is the number of moles of gas, and ​R​ is the molar gas
​ -1​
constant (8.31 J ​mol​-1 K​ ). You can rearrange this further to get the ideal gas equation:
pV = nRT = N kT
Where p is the pressure of the gas, V is the volume, n is the number of moles, T is the temperature in Kelvin
and R is the molar gas constant (8.31 J mol-1 K-1). N is the number of particles and k is the ​Boltzmann
constant​ given by k = R/N A .

The above equation is also known as the ​equation of state for an ideal gas​, and below is an
example question using it:
Find the pressure of 16 g of helium at 25°C, occupying a volume of 4.0 × 10−4 m​3​.
The relative atomic mass of helium is 4 (meaning that 1 mole of helium has a mass of 4 g).
Firstly, calculate the temperature in Kelvin.
25 + 273 = 298 K
Next, calculate the number of moles of gas.

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16
4 = ​4 moles
Finally, rearrange the ideal gas equation so pressure is the subject and substitute your
values to calculate pressure.
p= nRT
V = 4×8.31×298
4.0×10−4
= 2.5 × 107 Pa

15.3 - Kinetic Theory of Gases

Brownian motion​ is the ​random motion of larger particles in a fluid
caused by ​collisions​ with surrounding particles, and can be observed
through looking at smoke particles under a microscope. Brownian motion
contributed to the ​evidence for the existence of molecules and their
movement​.

The ​kinetic theory model​ equation relates several features of a fixed mass of gas, including its
pressure, volume and mean kinetic energy. There are several underlying ​assumptions​, which
lead to the derivation of this equation. These assumptions and the derivation are outlined below.
Note that the assumptions describe an ideal gas.
Assumptions -
● No intermolecular forces​ act between the molecules
● The ​duration of collisions is negligible​ in comparison to time between collisions
● The motion of molecules is ​random​, and they experience ​perfectly elastic collisions
● The motion of the molecules follows ​Newton’s laws
● The molecules ​move in straight lines​ between collisions

Derivation -
1. First, you must consider a cube with side lengths ​l​, full of gas
molecules. One of these molecules, has a mass ​m​ ​and is travelling
towards the right-most wall of the container, with a velocity ​u​. ​Assuming it
collides with this wall elastically, its ​change in momentum​ is
mu − (− mu) = 2mu .

2. ​ Before this molecule can collide with this wall again it must travel a
2l
distance of ​2​l​. Therefore the time between collisions is t, where​ t= u .
3. Using these two bits of information we can find the ​impulse​, which is
the rate of change of momentum of the molecule. As impulse is equal to the ​force​ exerted, we
2
can find ​pressure​ by dividing our value of impulse by the area of one wall:​ l .
2mu mu2 mu2 mu2 mu2
F = 2l = l
P = l =l3
=V
u l2
As shown, the above equation can be further simplified because​ l3 is equal to the cube’s ​volume (V)​.

4. ​The molecule we have considered is one of many in the cube, the total pressure of the gas will be
the ​sum of all the individual pressures​ caused by each molecule.

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m((u1 )2 +(u2 )2 +...+(un )2 )
P = V
5. ​Instead of considering all these speeds separately, we can define a quantity known as ​mean
square speed​, which is exactly what it sounds like, the mean of the square speeds of the gas
molecules. This quantity is known as​ u2 , and we multiply it by N, the number of particles in the gas, to
get an estimate of the sum of the molecules’ speeds.
N mu2
P = V
6. ​The last step is to ​consider all the directions​ the molecules will be moving in. Currently we have only
considered one dimension, however the particles will be moving in all 3 dimensions. Using ​pythagoras’
theorem​ we can work out the speed the molecules will be travelling at:

c2 = u2 + v 2 + w2
Where ​u​, ​v​, and ​w​ are the components of the molecule’s velocity in the x, y and z directions.
As the motion of the particles is random we can assume the mean square speed in each direction is the
same.

u2 = v 2 = w2 ∴ c2 = 3u2
The last thing to do now it put this into our equation and rearrange:

pV = 31 N mc2 ​ or pV = 31 N m < c2 >

As c2 and < c2 > are equivalent

The ideal gas equation and kinetic theory model equation are both modelled on ideal gases and
are equal to pV (the product of pressure and volume), meaning they can be equated:
pV = 13 N m < c2 > pV = nRT
1 2
3 N m < c > = nRT
1
3Nm < c2 > = NN RT As n = NN ​(from section 1.3)
A A
1 2 R
3 m < c > = NA T ​
A s the Ns cancel out

1
3m < c2 > = kT ​As​ k = R
NA
1
2m < c2 > = 3
2 kT

The equation on the left is the equation for the ​translational ​kinetic energy of a molecule in the
gas, and 3k/2 is a constant, meaning that the (average) ​translational kinetic energy of a molecule
in a gas and its temperature are ​directly proportional​.

Below is an example question using the above equations.

A bottle contains 128 g of oxygen at a temperature of 330 K. Find the sum of the kinetic energies
of all the oxygen molecules. Relative atomic mass of oxygen = 32.

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Firstly, find the number of moles of gas, then multiply this by the avogadro constant to find
the number of molecules.
mass 128
Number of moles =​ atomic mass = 32 = ​4
24
Number of molecules = 4 × 6.02 × 1023 = 2.408 × 10
3
Then, use 2 kT (derived above) to find the kinetic energy of one molecule and multiply this
by the number of molecules:
Kinetic energy of a single molecule = 3
2 × 1.38 × 10−23 × 330 = 6.831 × 10−21
Sum of kinetic energies = 6.831 × 10 −21
× 2.408 × 1024 = 16450 J

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