Multiple Choice
According to Boyle's Law, what happens to the volume of a gas at constant temperature when the pressure is increased?
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7. Gases
Chemistry Gas Laws
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At high pressure, how does the volume of a real gas compare to the volume predicted for an ideal gas under the same conditions?
A
The volume of a real gas is greater than that of an ideal gas.
B
The volume of a real gas is less than that of an ideal gas.
C
The volume of a real gas cannot be compared to that of an ideal gas.
D
The volume of a real gas is equal to that of an ideal gas.
Verified step by step guidance1
Recall that the ideal gas law is given by the equation \(P \times V = n \times R \times T\), where \(P\) is pressure, \(V\) is volume, \(n\) is moles of gas, \(R\) is the gas constant, and \(T\) is temperature. This law assumes gas particles have no volume and no intermolecular forces.
Understand that real gases deviate from ideal behavior especially at high pressures because gas particles are closer together, so their finite size and intermolecular forces become significant.
At high pressure, the volume occupied by the gas particles themselves (excluded volume) reduces the free space available for movement, which tends to increase the measured volume compared to the ideal gas prediction.
However, attractive intermolecular forces in real gases pull particles closer together, which tends to decrease the volume compared to the ideal gas prediction.
For most real gases at high pressure, the effect of the finite size of particles (excluded volume) dominates over attractive forces, causing the real gas volume to be greater than the ideal gas volume predicted by the ideal gas law.
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