All courses › General Chemistry › Ideal gas law

Ideal gas law

The ideal gas law relates pressure, volume, amount, and temperature for a gas that behaves ideally. It is used to calculate volume, pressure, or amount of gas when the other quantities are known.

pV=nRTpV = nRTideal gas law

Symbols

pppressurekPa
VVvolumeL
nnamount of gasmol
RRgas constant, 8.3148.314 J/(mol·K)
TTabsolute temperatureK

Example

1 mol of gas at 373 K and 100 kPa:

V=nRT/p=1⋅8.314⋅373/100≈31.01V = nRT/p = 1\cdot 8.314\cdot 373/100 \approx 31.01 L.

Use consistent units (kPa and L, or Pa and m³) — the gas constant RR comes in several forms depending on unit choice.
Practise thermochemistry and electrochemistry for free →

← Electrolysis and Faraday's law · The ideal gas law →

Part of General Chemistry: Thermochemistry and electrochemistry.