The three main gas laws that describe the behavior of ideal gases are Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, and Avogadro's Law. Each of these laws relates temperature, pressure, and volume of a gas in different ways:
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Boyle's Law:
- Statement: At constant temperature, the pressure of a given mass of gas is inversely proportional to its volume.
- Formula: \( P_1 V_1 = P_2 V_2 \)
- Relationship: If the volume of a gas increases, its pressure decreases, provided the temperature remains constant. Conversely, if the volume decreases, the pressure increases.
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Charles's Law:
- Statement: At constant pressure, the volume of a given mass of gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature (measured in Kelvin).
- Formula: \( \frac{V_1}{T_1} = \frac{V_2}{T_2} \)
- Relationship: As the temperature of a gas increases, its volume also increases, if the pressure remains constant. If the temperature decreases, the volume decreases as well.
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Avogadro's Law:
- Statement: At constant temperature and pressure, the volume of a gas is directly proportional to the number of moles (or amount) of gas present.
- Formula: \( \frac{V_1}{n_1} = \frac{V_2}{n_2} \)
- Relationship: Increasing the amount of gas (in moles) at constant temperature and pressure will increase the volume of the gas. Conversely, decreasing the amount of gas will decrease the volume.
These laws are foundational in understanding how gases behave under various conditions and are often combined in the Ideal Gas Law, which is expressed as \( PV = nRT \), where \( R \) is the ideal gas constant.
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