A question of the Intercompatibility of the Gas Laws.

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the intercompatibility of Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, and Amonton's Law in the context of gas behavior. The user expresses confusion about how increasing temperature can lead to increased pressure without considering the constraints of an enclosed container. A response clarifies that the gas laws apply to the behavior of gases in various containers and conditions, allowing for a unified understanding through the ideal gas law (PV=nRT). The laws can coexist as they describe different aspects of gas behavior under specific conditions. Ultimately, the ideal gas law integrates these principles, confirming their compatibility.
modulus
Messages
127
Reaction score
3
I was recently taught about the three gas laws:

1)Boyle's Law, which stated that pressure is inversely proportional to volume and vice-versa at a constant temperature.

2)Charle's Law, which stated that volume is directly proportional to temperature at a a constant pressure

3)Amonton Law, which stated that pressure is directly proportional to temperature at a constant volume.

I have no confusion regarding the first two laws, but, I don't understand how increasing temperature would increase pressure (Amonton's Law) unless the gas is in an enclosed container (so that when it's temp. is increased, it's volume increases too, which will cause it's molecules to collide with the container more often to produce more pressure).
If we consider Amonoton's Law to be in the context of a closed container, then Boyle's Law and Charle's Law would also be in the context of a closed container (because the three laws are used together to derive the gas equation PV=nRT). But, then Boyle's Law would make no sense.
So, the three laws are not intercompatible, which means the gas equation is wrong ... but ... how??
 
Physics news on Phys.org
modulus said:
I have no confusion regarding the first two laws, but, I don't understand how increasing temperature would increase pressure (Amonton's Law) unless the gas is in an enclosed container (so that when it's temp. is increased, it's volume increases too, which will cause it's molecules to collide with the container more often to produce more pressure).

Your perspective about the pressure is totally right, but you've overlooked the fact that you're studying the gas not the container that contains the gas. When you want to study the gas, you put it in different containers and in different circumstances and watch how it'll act in every environment, so you can give a general law for it everywhere in any situation.
Eventually, you can combine everything you saw in 1 law that tells you everything you want in every environment, which means that the general law (ideal gas law) should agree with the 3 partial laws you've seen in the experiment, which is the case in in the ideal gas law PV=nRT when you set any of the 3 variables to be a constant.

If this answer doesn't convince you, ask again and you're welcome :)

Good luck :)
 
Last edited:
comparing a flat solar panel of area 2π r² and a hemisphere of the same area, the hemispherical solar panel would only occupy the area π r² of while the flat panel would occupy an entire 2π r² of land. wouldn't the hemispherical version have the same area of panel exposed to the sun, occupy less land space and can therefore increase the number of panels one land can have fitted? this would increase the power output proportionally as well. when I searched it up I wasn't satisfied with...
Back
Top