- Related Topics:
- ideal gas
- kinetic theory of gases
- degenerate gas
- gas laws
- Joule-Thomson effect
- On the Web:
- Middle Tennessee State University - Department of Chemistry - Gases and Gas Laws (PDF) (Mar. 25, 2025)
The enormous number of molecules in even a small volume of a dilute gas produces not complication, as might be expected, but rather simplification. The reason is that ordinarily only statistical averages are observed in the study of the behaviour and properties of gases, and statistical methods are quite accurate when large numbers are involved. Compared to the numbers of molecules involved, there are only a few properties of gases that warrant attention here, namely, pressure, density, temperature, internal energy, viscosity, heat conductivity, and diffusivity. (More subtle properties can be brought into view by the application of electric and magnetic fields, but they are of minor interest.)
It is a remarkable fact that these properties are not independent. If two are known, the rest can be determined from them. That is to say, for a given gas, the specification of only two properties—usually chosen to be temperature and density or temperature and pressure—fixes all the others. Thus, if the temperature and density of carbon dioxide are specified, the gas can have only one possible pressure, one internal energy, one viscosity, and so on. In order to determine the values of these other properties, they must either be measured or calculated from the known properties of the molecules themselves. Such calculations are the ultimate goal of statistical mechanics and kinetic theory, and dilute gases constitute the case for which the most progress toward that goal has been made.
In discussing the behaviour of gases, it is useful to separate the equilibrium properties and the nonequilibrium transport properties. By definition, a system in equilibrium can undergo no net change unless some external action is performed on it (e.g., pushing in a piston or adding heat). Its behaviour is steady with time, and no changes appear to be occurring, even though the molecules are in ceaseless motion. In contrast, the nonequilibrium properties describe how a system responds to some external action, such as the imposition of a temperature or pressure difference. Equilibrium behaviour is much easier to analyze, because any change that occurs on the molecular level must be compensated by some other change or changes on the molecular level in order for the system to remain in equilibrium.
Equilibrium properties
Ideal gas equation of state
Among the most obvious properties of a dilute gas, other than its low density compared with liquids and solids, are its great elasticity or compressibility and its large volume expansion on heating. These properties are nearly the same for all dilute gases, and virtually all such gases can be described quite accurately by the following universal equation of state:
This expression is called the ideal, or perfect, gas equation of state, since all real gases show small deviations from it, although these deviations become less significant as the density is decreased. Here p is the pressure, v is the volume per mole, or molar volume, R is the universal gas constant, and T is the absolute thermodynamic temperature. To a rough degree, the expression is accurate within a few percent if the volume is more than 10 times the critical volume; the accuracy improves as the volume increases. The expression eventually fails at both high and low temperatures, owing to ionization at high temperatures and to condensation to a liquid or solid at low temperatures.
The ideal gas equation of state is an amalgamation of three ideal gas laws that were formulated independently. The first is Boyle’s law, which refers to the elastic properties of the gas; it was described by the Anglo-Irish scientist Robert Boyle in 1662 in his famous “ . . . Experiments . . . Touching the Spring of the Air . . . .” It states that the volume of a gas at constant temperature is inversely proportional to the pressure; i.e., if the pressure on a gas is doubled, for example, its volume decreases by one-half. The second, usually called Charles’s law, is concerned with the thermal expansion of the gas. It is named in honour of the French experimental physicist Jacques-Alexandre-César Charles for the work he carried out in about 1787. The law states that the volume of a gas at constant pressure is directly proportional to the absolute temperature; i.e., an increase of temperature of 1° C at room temperature causes the volume to increase by about 1 part in 300, or 0.3 percent. The third law embodied in equation (15) is based on the 1811 hypothesis of the Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro—namely, that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of particles. The number of particles (or molecules) is proportional to the number of moles n, the constant of proportionality being Avogadro’s number, N0. Thus, at constant temperature and pressure the volume of a gas is proportional to the number of moles. If the total volume V contains n moles of gas, then only v = V/n appears in the equation of state. By measuring the quantity of gas in moles rather than grams, the constant R is made universal; if mass were measured in grams (and hence v in volume per gram), then R would have a different value for each gas.
The ideal gas law is easily extended to mixtures by letting n represent the total number of moles of all species present in volume V. That is, if there are n1 moles of species 1, n2 moles of species 2, etc., in the mixture, then n = n1 + n2 + · · · and v = V/n as before. This result can also be rewritten and reinterpreted in terms of the partial pressures of the different species, such that p1 = n1RT/V is the partial pressure of species 1 and so on. The total pressure is then given as p = p1 + p2 + · · · . This rule is known as Dalton’s law of partial pressures in honour of the British chemist and physicist John Dalton, who formulated it about 1801.
A brief aside on units and temperature scales is in order. The (metric) unit of pressure in the scientific international system of units (known as the SI system) is newton per square metre (N/m2), where one newton (N) is the force that gives a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of 1 m/s2. The unit N/m2 is given the name pascal (Pa), where one standard atmosphere is exactly 101,325 Pa (approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch). The unit of volume in the SI system is the cubic metre (1 m3 = 106 cm3), and the unit of temperature is the kelvin (K). The Kelvin thermodynamic temperature scale is defined through the laws of thermodynamics so as to be absolute or universal, in the sense that its definition does not depend on the specific properties of any particular kind of matter. Its numerical values, however, are assigned by defining the triple point of water—i.e., the unique temperature at which ice, liquid water, and water vapour are all in equilibrium—to be exactly 273.16 K. The freezing point of water under one atmosphere of air then turns out to be (by measurement) 273.1500 K. The freezing point is 0° on the Celsius scale (or 32° on the Fahrenheit scale), by definition. The precise thermodynamic definition of the Kelvin scale and the rather peculiar number chosen to define its numerical values (i.e., 273.16) are historical choices made so that the ideal gas equation of state will have the simple mathematical form given by the right-hand side of equation (15).
The gas constant R is determined by measurement. The best value so far obtained is that of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology—namely, 8.3144621 J/mol · Κ. Ηere the unit J is one of work or energy, one joule (J) being equal to one newton-metre.
Internal energy
Once the equation of state is known for an ideal gas, only its internal energy, E, needs to be determined in order for all other equilibrium properties to be deducible from the laws of thermodynamics. That is to say, if the equation of state and the internal energy of a fluid are known, then all the other thermodynamic properties (e.g., enthalpy, entropy, and free energy) are fixed by the condition that it must be impossible to construct perpetual motion machines from the fluid. Proofs of such statements are usually rather subtle and involved and constitute a large part of the subject of thermodynamics, but conclusions based on thermodynamic principles are among the most reliable results of science.
A thermodynamic result of relevance here is that the ideal gas equation of state requires that the internal energy depend on temperature alone, not on pressure or density. The actual relationship between E and T must be measured or calculated from known molecular properties by means of statistical mechanics. The internal energy is not directly measurable, but its behaviour can be determined from measurements of the molar heat capacity (i.e., the specific heat) of the gas. The molar heat capacity is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one mole of a substance by one degree; its units in the SI system are J/mol · K. A system with many kinds of motion on a molecular scale absorbs more energy than one with only a few kinds of motion. The interpretation of the temperature dependence of E is particularly simple for dilute gases, as is shown in the discussion of the kinetic theory of gases below. The following highlights only the major aspects.
Every gas molecule moves in three-dimensional space, and this translational motion contributes (3/2)RT (per mole) to the internal energy E. For monatomic gases, such as helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, this is the sole energy contribution. Gases that contain two or more atoms per molecule also contribute additional terms because of their internal motions:
where Eint may include contributions from molecular rotations and internal vibrations and occasionally from internal electronic excitations. Some of these internal motions may not contribute at ordinary temperatures because of special conditions imposed by quantum mechanics, however, so that the temperature dependence of Eint can be rather complex.
The extension to gas mixtures is straightforward—the total internal energy E (per mole) is the weighted sum of the internal energies of each of the species: nE = n1E1 + n2E2 + · · ·, where n = n1 + n2 + · · · .
It is the task of the kinetic theory of gases to account for these results concerning the equation of state and the internal energy of dilute gases.
Transport properties
The following is a summary of the three main transport properties: viscosity, heat conductivity, and diffusivity. These properties correspond to the transfer of momentum, energy, and matter, respectively.
Viscosity
All ordinary fluids exhibit viscosity, which is a type of internal friction. A continuous application of force is needed to keep a fluid flowing, just as a continuous force is needed to keep a solid body moving in the presence of friction. Consider the case of a fluid slowly flowing through a long capillary tube. A pressure difference of Δp must be maintained across the ends to keep the fluid flowing, and the resulting flow rate is proportional to Δp. The rate is inversely proportional to the viscosity (η) since the friction that opposes the flow increases as η increases. It also depends on the geometry of the tube, but this effect will not be considered here. The SI units of η are N · s/m2 or Pa · s. An older unit of the centimetre-gram-second version of the metric system that is still often used is the poise (1 Pa · s = 10 poise). At 20° C the viscosity of water is 1.0 × 10-3 Pa · s and that of air is 1.8 × 10-5 Pa · s. To a rough approximation, liquids are about 100 times more viscous than gases.
There are three important properties of the viscosity of dilute gases that seem to defy common sense. All can be explained, however, by the kinetic theory (see below Kinetic theory of gases). The first property is the lack of a dependence on pressure or density. Intuition suggests that gas viscosity should increase with increasing density, inasmuch as liquids are much more viscous than gases, but gas viscosity is actually independent of density. This result can be illustrated by a pendulum swinging on a solid support. It eventually slows down owing to the viscous friction of the air. If a bell jar is placed over the pendulum and half the air is pumped out, the air remaining in the jar damps the pendulum just as fast as a full jar of air would have done. Robert Boyle noted this peculiar phenomenon in 1660, but his results were largely either ignored or forgotten. The Scottish chemist Thomas Graham studied the flow of gases through long capillaries, which he called transpiration, in 1846 and 1849, but it was not until 1877 that the German physicist O.E. Meyer pointed out that Graham’s measurements had shown the independence of viscosity on density. Prior to Meyer’s investigations, the kinetic theory had suggested the result, so he was looking for experimental proof to support the prediction. When James Clerk Maxwell discovered (in 1865) that his kinetic theory suggested this result, he found it difficult to believe and attempted to check it experimentally. He designed an oscillating disk apparatus (which is still much copied) to verify the prediction.
The second unusual property of viscosity is its relationship with temperature. One might expect the viscosity of a fluid to increase as the temperature is lowered, as suggested by the phrase “as slow as molasses in January.” The viscosity of a dilute gas behaves in exactly the opposite way: the viscosity increases as the temperature is raised. The rate of increase varies approximately as Ts, where s is between 1/2 and 1, and depends on the particular gas. This behaviour was clearly established in 1849 by Graham.
The third property pertains to the viscosity of mixtures. A viscous syrup, for example, can be made less so by the addition of a liquid with a lower viscosity, such as water. By analogy, one would expect that a mixture of carbon dioxide, which is fairly viscous, with a gas like hydrogen, which is much less viscous, would have a viscosity intermediate to that of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Surprisingly, the viscosity of the mixture is even greater than that of carbon dioxide. This phenomenon was also observed by Graham in 1849.
Finally, there is no obvious correlation of gas viscosity with molecular weight. Heavy gases are often more viscous than light gases, but there are many exceptions, and no simple pattern is apparent.
Heat conduction
If a temperature difference is maintained across a fluid, a flow of energy through the fluid will result. The energy flow is proportional to the temperature difference according to Fourier’s law, where the constant of proportionality (aside from the geometric factors of the apparatus) is called the heat conductivity or thermal conductivity of the fluid, λ. Mechanisms other than conduction can transport energy, in particular convection and radiation; here it is assumed that these can be eliminated or adjusted for. The SI units for λ are J/m · s · K or watt per metre degree (W/m · K), but sometimes calories are used for the energy term instead of joules (one calorie = 4.184 J). At 20° C the thermal conductivity of water is 0.60 W/m · K, and that of many organic liquids is roughly only one-third as large. The thermal conductivity of air at 20° C is only about 2.5 × 10-2 W/m · K. To a rough approximation, liquids conduct heat about 10 times better than do gases.
The properties of the thermal conductivity of dilute gases parallel those of viscosity in some respects. The most striking is the lack of dependence on pressure or density. Based on this fact, there seems to be no advantage to pumping out the inner chambers of thermos bottles. As far as conduction is concerned, it does not provide any benefits until practically all the air has been removed and free-molecule conduction is occurring. Convection, however, does depend on density, so some degree of insulation is provided by pumping out only some of the air.
The thermal conductivity of a dilute gas increases with increasing temperature, much like its viscosity. In this case, such behaviour does not seem particularly odd, probably because most people do not have a preconceived idea of how thermal conductivity should behave, unlike the situation with viscosity.
There are some differences in the behaviour of thermal conductivity and viscosity; one of the most notable has to do with mixtures. At first glance the thermal conductivity of a gaseous mixture seems to be as expected, since it falls between the conductivities of its components, but a closer look reveals an odd regularity. The conductivity of the mixture is always less than an average based on the number of moles (or molecules) of each component in the mixture. This appears to be related to the different effect that molecular weight has on thermal conductivity and viscosity. Light gases are usually better conductors than are heavy gases, whereas heavy gases are often (but not always) more viscous than are light gases. There also seems to be some correlation between molar heat capacity and thermal conductivity. The foregoing properties of thermal conductivity pose more puzzles that the kinetic theory of gases must address.
