What do you mean by 1 mol gas occupies 22.4 litres

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around Avogadro's law, specifically the assertion that 1 mole of an ideal gas occupies 22.4 liters at standard temperature and pressure (STP). Participants explore the implications of this law, questioning its interpretation and application in real-world scenarios.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express confusion about the practical meaning of Avogadro's law, questioning whether a mole of gas would actually occupy 22.4 liters in a room.
  • Others clarify that the law applies specifically at STP conditions, where 1 mole of an ideal gas is defined to occupy 22.4 liters.
  • A participant proposes a controlled experiment involving cooling a room, sealing it, and adding a mole of oxygen to demonstrate the law.
  • Another participant suggests using an ideal balloon to illustrate the concept, but challenges arise regarding the pressure differences between the inside and outside of a balloon.
  • Some participants debate the significance of the pressure exerted by the balloon material, with calculations presented to estimate the pressure difference and its relevance to the volume occupied by the gas.
  • There are discussions on the assumptions made in calculations, such as the thickness of the balloon material and the applicability of Young's modulus to rubber.
  • Participants also discuss the potential impact of pressure differences on the molar volume of gas, suggesting that even small pressure increases could lead to measurable changes in volume.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the interpretation of Avogadro's law in practical terms, with multiple competing views regarding the implications of pressure differences and the behavior of gases in real-world conditions.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the assumptions made regarding the ideal behavior of gases, the conditions under which the law applies, and the physical properties of materials like rubber. The discussion highlights the complexity of applying theoretical laws to practical scenarios.

jd12345
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Avagadro law states that 1 mol of any gas( ideal) occupies 22.4 litres.
I don't really understand it. You take one mole of oxygen and leave it in a room - will it go in a corner and occupy 22.4litres? I think it spreads out in the whole room.
So what does the law mean?
 
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This law states at STP (101325 pa and 273K) one mole of an ideal gas (such as oxygen) will occupy a volume of 22.4L ;)
 
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a) cool the room to 273.15 K;

b) hermetically seal the room;

c) create a high vacuum in it by pumping all the air out;

d) Add 1 mole of oxygen.

The pressure in the room should be given by:
<br /> 1 \, \mathrm{atm} \frac{22.4 \, \mathrm{dm}^3}{V}<br />
 
Or, another way of looking at it, take an ideal empty large balloon. Fill that balloon with 1 mole of any gas, and place balloon in a room at STP. The inside volume of that balloon will be 22.4 liters...
 
RocketSci5KN said:
Or, another way of looking at it, take an ideal empty large balloon. Fill that balloon with 1 mole of any gas, and place balloon in a room at STP. The inside volume of that balloon will be 22.4 liters...

No, it won't. The pressure inside an inflated balloon is larger than the exterior pressure, due to the elastic tension in the material from which the balloon is made of.
 
True if its a rubber balloon, but even still the pressure caused by the rubber will tend to be vanishingly small.
 
How did you estimate that the pressure difference is negligible? The Young's modulus for rubber is between 0.01-0.1 GPa. If we have a sphere with radius R, and thickness t, then a pressure difference on both sides of the sphere translates to a strain \sigma:
<br /> \sigma = \frac{R}{t} \, \Delta p \Leftrightarrow \Delta p = \frac{t}{R} \, \sigma<br />

A typical thickness of a balloon is 10 mil (ten thousandths of an inch), and a typical inflated radius of a balloon is 5 inches. But, the balloons are often inflated twice their undeformed length, i.e. \epsilon \sim 1. Therefore:
<br /> \Delta p \sim \frac{10 \times 10^{-3} \, \mathrm{in}}{5 \, \mathrm{in}} \, \left( 0.01 - 0.1 \, \mathrm{GPa} \right) = 0.02 - 0.2 \, \mathrm{MPa} = 0.2 - 2 \, \mathrm{atm}<br />

I think this is exactly of the same order of magnitude as the atmospheric pressure.
 
I said 'ideal' balloon - this implies zero constraining forces from the material itself. P(inside) = P(outside)... Yes, in a normal balloon P(inside) slightly larger than P(outside). You'll still get close to 22.4l in any case. If it makes people happier, change 'balloon' to 'plastic garbage bag' with a nominal 50 liter capacity... as you'd only fill it to 22.4l, there will be no strain on the material and P(inside) = P(outside).
 
Dickfore said:
How did you estimate that the pressure difference is negligible?
I base that on the fact that I can blow one up with my lungs! Based on this link (and an everyday experience we all have had!), the max pressure we can generate is about 1psi, so you're an order of magnitude high with your calculation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1501025/
 
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  • #10
russ_watters said:
I base that on the fact that I can blow one up with my lungs! Based on this link (and an everyday experience we all have had!), the max pressure we can generate is about 1psi, so you're an order of magnitude high with your calculation: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1501025/

From the link you had provided:
In men, maximum expiratory pressure increased with volume from 63 to 97 cmH2O and maximum inspiratory pressure decreased with volume from 97 to 39 cmH2O.

97 cm H20 refers to a pressure difference of:
<br /> 1000 \, \mathrm{kg} \cdot 9.81 \, \frac{\mathrm{m}}{\mathrm{s}^2} \cdot 0.97 \, \mathrm{m} = 9.52 \times 10^3 \, \mathrm{Pa} \times \frac{1 \, \mathrm{atm}}{101325 \, \mathrm{Pa}} = 9.4 \times 10^{-2} \, \mathrm{atm}<br />

That is 9.4% above atmospheric pressure.

Also, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwh-i0WB_bQ

As they inflate the balloon, the pressure is pretty constant around 810 mm Hg, eventually increasing to 840 mm Hg. Now, standard atmospheric pressure corresponds to:
<br /> \frac{101325 \, \mathrm{Pa}}{13,600 \, \mathrm{kg} \cdot \mathrm{m}^{-3} \times 9.81 \, \mathrm{m} \cdot \mathrm{s}^{-2}} = 0.759 \, \mathrm{m} = 759 \, \mathrm{mm} \, \mathrm{Hg}<br />
Thus, this is excess pressure of:
<br /> \frac{810 - 840}{759} \, \mathrm{atm} = 1.07 - 1.107 \, \mathrm{atm}<br />

I guess it is a matter of circumstance whether 10% is considered negligible or not.
 
  • #11
Dickfore said:
That is 9.4% above atmospheric pressure.

Which is way lower than your initial estimate :wink:

Dickfore said:
Thus, this is excess pressure of:
<br /> \frac{810 - 840}{759} \, \mathrm{atm} = 1.07 - 1.107 \, \mathrm{atm}<br />


If anything, 810-760 mmHg or 0.066 atm, or about 7%.

But I agree that negligibility of this number is disputable. Thank you for digging this video up.
 
  • #12
Dickfore said:
That is 9.4% above atmospheric pressure.

Borek said:
Which is way lower than your initial estimate :wink:

Dickfore said:
How did you estimate that the pressure difference is negligible? The Young's modulus for rubber is between 0.01-0.1 GPa. If we have a sphere with radius R, and thickness t, then a pressure difference on both sides of the sphere translates to a strain \sigma:
<br /> \sigma = \frac{R}{t} \, \Delta p \Leftrightarrow \Delta p = \frac{t}{R} \, \sigma<br />

A typical thickness of a balloon is 10 mil (ten thousandths of an inch), and a typical inflated radius of a balloon is 5 inches. But, the balloons are often inflated twice their undeformed length, i.e. \epsilon \sim 1. Therefore:
<br /> \Delta p \sim \frac{10 \times 10^{-3} \, \mathrm{in}}{5 \, \mathrm{in}} \, \left( 0.01 - 0.1 \, \mathrm{GPa} \right) = 0.02 - 0.2 \, \mathrm{MPa} = 0.2 - 2 \, \mathrm{atm}<br />

I think this is exactly of the same order of magnitude as the atmospheric pressure.

My lower estimate is only about twice as big as the other result. I would say that is not bad for an order of magnitude estimate :SMILE:

There are at least 3 issues with the calculation:
  • There might be a numerical factor in the equation relating latteral radial pressure difference, and sheer stress. I am not sure what this factor is.
  • The thickness I used (10 \, \mathrm{mil} = 254 \, \mathrm{\mu m}) was taken from some ad for ballons used to isolate clean rooms! It might be too big!
  • Finally, I used the quoted values for Young's modulus in Wikipedia. Rubber behaves in an atypical fashion that is not in exact coincidence with Hooke's Law. That is why the range of values.

Regardless, even a 9.4% increase in pressure would lead to a 1 - 1/1.0094 = 0.0093 = 9.3 \% decrease in molar volume. 9.3% out of 22.4 is 2.08. Thus, one cannot report the result with 3 significant figures, but, instead, one would obtain something around \approx 20 \, \mathrm{dm}^3/\mathrm{mol}
 

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