Will reversing Avogadro's Law lead to equal volumes for equal moles of gas?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around Avogadro's Law and its implications, particularly whether reversing the law to state that equal moles of gas at the same temperature and pressure will yield equal volumes is valid. Participants also explore related concepts involving gas reactions and the phase of water in chemical equations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions if reversing Avogadro's Law is correct, suggesting that equal moles of gas at the same temperature and pressure should yield equal volumes.
  • Another participant agrees that it works both ways, contingent on the ideal gas approximation holding true.
  • A different participant clarifies that the ideal gas law applies under certain conditions, noting that no gas is truly ideal but can be approximated as such under specific circumstances.
  • One participant presents a problem involving the combustion of hydrogen and the formation of water, questioning the validity of treating water as a gas in calculations.
  • Another participant explains that considering water as vapor simplifies calculations, even though it condenses afterward.
  • There is a reiteration of the initial question about reversing Avogadro's Law, with a reference to empirical observations that motivated the original hypothesis.
  • One participant inquires whether the mass of water remains the same in both vapor and liquid phases, to which another participant confirms that mass is conserved.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of Avogadro's Law and the treatment of water in different phases. While some agree on the validity of reversing the law under certain conditions, others emphasize the limitations of the ideal gas approximation. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the treatment of water in vapor versus liquid phases.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the ideal gas law is an approximation that may not hold for all gases, and there are unresolved assumptions regarding the phase of water in chemical reactions.

gracy
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Avogadro's Law states that 'equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules' or moles of gas.
My question is ,will it be correct if we reverse the law,
I mean if gases of equal moles at the same temperature and pressure will have equal volumes,is it right?For eg.
  • N2(g) + 3H2(g) ==> 2NH3(g)
  • 1 mole of nitrogen gas combines with 3 moles of hydrogen gas to form 2 moles of a ammonia gas.we can say that 1 volume (what ever be the unit) of nitrogen reacts with 3 volumes of hydrogen to produce 2 volumes of ammonia?
  • provided that the gases are at same temperature and pressure.
 
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Yes, it works both ways.

(As long as the ideal approximation holds)
 
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Borek said:
As long as the ideal approximation holds)
Are you talking about this point -
  • provided that the gases are at same temperature and pressure.
 
No. PV=nRT is an "ideal gas approximation" - that is, it works only for ideal gases. No gas is ideal, but as long as the distances between molecules are large enough, every gas can be approximated as ideal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas (just read the initial part).
 
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I have one more problem
  • Given the equation: 2H2(g) + O2(g) ==> 2H2O(l)
    If 40 dm3 of hydrogen, (at 25oC and 1 atm pressure) were burned completely ...What mass of water is formed?
  • In my textbook solution is as follows
    • The easiest way to solve this problem is to think of the water as being formed as a gas-vapour.
    • The theoretical gas volume ratio of reactant hydrogen to product water is 1 : 1
    • Therefore, prior to condensation at room temperature and pressure, 40 dm3 of water vapour is formed.
    • 1 mole of gas occupies 24 dm3, and the relative molar mass of water is 18 g/mol
      • (atomic masses H = 1, O = 16, so Mr(H2O) = 1 + 1 + 16 = 18).
    • Therefore moles of water formed = 40/24 = 1.666 moles
    • Since moles = mass / formula mass
    • mass = moles x formula mass
    • mass water formed = 1.666 x 18 = 30g of H2O
      My question is how can we think water in liquid as water in vapor phase?How is it correct to do?
 
It is a shortcut - if water were a gas, vapor would occupy 40 L. Yes, it condenses next, but assuming it is still a gas after the reaction simplifies calculations. You can think in terms of "when gases react, product is gaseous, and the condensation is not instantaneous, so the product is gaseous for long enough we can calculate its amount" ;)
 
gracy said:
Avogadro's Law states that 'equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of molecules' or moles of gas.
My question is ,will it be correct if we reverse the law,
I mean if gases of equal moles at the same temperature and pressure will have equal volumes,is it right?For eg.
  • N2(g) + 3H2(g) ==> 2NH3(g)
  • 1 mole of nitrogen gas combines with 3 moles of hydrogen gas to form 2 moles of a ammonia gas.we can say that 1 volume (what ever be the unit) of nitrogen reacts with 3 volumes of hydrogen to produce 2 volumes of ammonia?
  • provided that the gases are at same temperature and pressure.

Yes, in fact empirical observations of just such combining volumes, subsumed in 'Gay-Lussac's Law' were most of the motivation of the Avogadro hypothesis as it was originally.
 
I wanted to ask will mass of water be same in both vapor and liquid phase?If yes,then we can calculate mass of water in any of these phases depending upon ease.
 
gracy said:
I wanted to ask will mass of water be same in both vapor and liquid phase?

Yes, mass is conserved.
 

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