Gay-Lussac’s law is a gas law which states that the pressure exerted by a gas (of a given mass and kept at a constant volume) varies directly with the absolute temperature of the gas. In other words, the pressure exerted by a gas is proportional to the temperature of the gas when the mass is fixed and the volume is constant.
This law was formulated by the French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac in the year 1808. The mathematical expression of Gay-Lussac’s law can be written as follows:
P ∝ T ; P/T = k
Where:
- P is the pressure exerted by the gas
- T is the absolute temperature of the gas
- k is a constant.
The relationship between the pressure and absolute temperature of a given mass of gas (at constant volume) can be illustrated graphically as follows.
From the graph, it can be understood that the pressure of a gas (kept at constant volume) reduces constantly as it is cooled until the gas eventually undergoes condensation and becomes a liquid.
Leave a Reply