Gas Law Experiments (SQA National 5 Physics): Revision Note

Gas law experiments

• The three gas laws can be verified by experiment

• Exam questions may ask about these experiments in the following ways:

  • experimental verification

  • analysis and interpretation

  • suggested improvements

Verifying the relationship between pressure & volume

• For a gas at constant temperature:

  • Pressure increases if the volume decreases

  • Pressure decreases if the volume increases

  • Pressure and volume are inversely proportional

• Look for:

  • patterns in the data that show this relationship

  • a curved line on a graph that shows an inverse proportional relationship

The relationship between volume and pressure

Verifying the relationship between pressure & temperature

• For a gas at constant volume:

  • The pressure increases if the temperature increases

  • The pressure decreases if the temperature decreases

  • Pressure and temperature are directly proportional

• Look for:

  • patterns in the data that show this relationship

  • a straight line that goes through the origin on a graph that shows a directly proportional relationship

The relationship between pressure and temperature

Verifying the relationship between volume & temperature

• For a gas at constant pressure:

  • The volume will increase if the temperature increases

  • The volume will decrease if the temperature decreases

  • Volume and temperature are directly proportional

• Look for:

  • patterns in the data that show this relationship

  • a straight line that goes through the origin on a graph that shows a directly proportional relationship

The relationship between volume and temperature