The Ideal Gas Law and Work Done on a System

Department of Physics, State University of New York Albany, Albany, NY 12222

(Date: December 11, 2016)

Abstract
The experiment preformed was to examine the ideal gas law by measuring temperature
and varying pressures, volumes, and masses. The uncertainties associated to the values are
closely looked at to verify the measured outcomes. As the volume of the system decreases, the
pressure increases. The volume can increase or decrease depending on the mass added to the
system (volume decreases and mass is added and vise-versa). Imperfect collisions in the
molecules and an imperfect system could have causes for uncertainties in the measurements.

INTRODUCTION

The ideal gas law states that for an ideal gas

PV =NkT

(1)

where P is he pressure in Pascals of the particular gas, V is the volume in m^3, T is the
temperature in Kelvin, n is the number of moles, and k is Boltzmans constant (1.38*10^-23
J/moleculeK). Atmospheric pressure is measured to be apporoximately 1.05*10^5 Pa with
standard humidity and temperature. Total pressure can be calculated using
P=Po +

F
mg
=Po +
A
A

(2)

Where mg/A is the force of the pressure over a certain area. The density of air could be
calculated using
=M /V

(3)

where is density in kg/m^2, M is the mass in kg, and V is the volume in M^3.
Since are is mostly nitrogen and we know that Avagadros number is
N A =6.0210

23

(4)

the mass of air can me calculated using the manipulated equation

M=

mN
NA

(5)

Through this lab, uncertainty was closely examined in all of our values. It was found that
to find the uncertainty in a value that contained other values with their own uncertainties, the
Pythagorean theorem is used:

( first contributing value ) 2 ( second contributing value ) 2

+

( first contributing value )

( second contributing value)

( end value )
=
end value

(6)

EXPERIMENT
A. Experimental Design
Read the temperature in Kelvin from the LabPro display. Measure and record the uncertainty in
the temperature by observing the last digit in the readout. While the tub to the gas sensor is open
to the room, record the atmospheric pressure and its uncertainty and percent uncertainty.
Measure the calculate the volume of the cylinder by finding the diameter, radius, and height in
meters. Using equation 1, compute the number of molecules of gas in the cylinder and its
uncertainty using equation 6. Using equation 7, estimate the mass of the air and its uncertainty.
Compute the density using equation 3 and find the uncertainty with equation 7.
Create a closed system by clamping the tube from the cylinder. Unscrew the thumb screw
so the cylinder is free to move. The initial mass on the cylinder is 0, and more masses are added
throughout this section of the lab. Using equation 2, computed the expected pressure. Record the
pressure on the gauge and record the uncertainty. Record the height and its uncertainty. This
process is repeated with 0.1kg, 0.2kg, 0.5kg, and 1kg. The mass of the piston, .035kg needs to be
added to these weights to get the total weight. The volume of the cylinder is found using
equation 1, where V is the total of all the volumes. Create a plot with the volume of the cylinder
vs. the inverse pressure. The extra volume of the system is given by the slope of the graph
created. Compare the measured volume to the calculated volume. Using equation 8, compute the
height for each mass added to the system. Plot the measured and expected height vs. the total
mass and compare.

B. Experimental Results
From the system, values for the temperature, atmospheric pressure, height, and diameter
for the piston and cylinder needed to be recorded. There were no equations required to obtain
these values:
%
temperature (K)
P0 (Pa)
height (m)
diameter (m)

296.3
101600
0.098
0.0325

uncertainty uncer
0.1
100
0.0001
0.0001

0.000337496
0.000986193
0.001015228
0.003076923

Using the diameter, the radius and area are computed. By using the equation V=A*h, the volume
is found using the values for the computed area and the height of the piston.

radius (m)
area (m^2)

0.01625
0.000829156

volume (m^3)

8.16719E-05

uncertai
nty
0.0001
0.0001
0.0001414
21

%
uncer
0.006153846
1.414213566
1.731579313

Using the ideal gas law, the number of molecules is calculated to be 2.00*10^21. Here, the
uncertainty in N is the sum, in quadrature, of the relative uncertainties in pressure, volume, and
temperature. This part of the lab is a good demonstration of how uncertainties are found when
there are numerous values contributing. Through computation, the uncertainty in the number of
moles is 100 molecules.
The mass of the air is needed to find the density of air. In order to calculate the mass of the air,
what air is made of is needed. For simplicity, nitrogen is used as the entirety of air, which has a
molar mass of 0.028kg per mole. The number of molecules is given by Avogadros number,
6.02*10^23. Using equation 7, the mass of air is computed to be 9.31*10^-5 kg. Using the
4

uncertainty formula (equation 6), the uncertainty is 10.7%. Using equation 3, the density is
calculated to be 1.14kg/m^3 .001kg/m^3.
The purpose of the second part of the lab is to observe the change in pressures, volumes,
and masses and how the values are dependent on each other. Different masses added to the
system creates different pressures as shown in the following figures:
piston and weight
(kg)

uncer (kg)

% uncer

expected pressure (kg/m^3)

Uncer
(kg/m^3)

% un

0.035
0.135
0.235
0.535
1.035

0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001
0.001

0.02857
0.00740
0.00425
0.00186
0.00096

102013.6735
103195.5979
104377.5223
107923.2955
113832.9175

0.0010
0.0010
0.0010
0.0010
0.0010

9.85
9.73E
9.62E
9.31E
8.83E

Pressure vs Mass

Measured
Expected

In equation 1, V stands for the total volume. In this system, the volume in the tubing is also
present. By plotting the volume of the cylinder against the inverse of the pressure, the negative of
the intercept is the excess volume from the tubing:

Volume vs 1/P

f(x) = 8.26x - 0

From using equation 1 and plotting, it is found that the volume of the tubing is 3.5369*10^6m^3. The measurement and computation is exactly the same, thus, it is reasonable. The total
volume of the system is both the cylinder and the tubing volumes. Knowing this, the height of
the piston in the cylinder can me computed. By using the equation V=A*h, the height with the
added masses are computed and compared to the measured heights preformed in the lab:
Volumecyl (m^3) height (m)
7.74018E-05
7.66159E-05
7.5769E-05
7.34039E-05
6.95228E-05

0.09761568
6
0.09666796
1
0.09564649
4
0.09279403
5
0.088113274

measured h
(m)
0.098
0.097
0.095
0.092
0.085

Height vs Total Mass

Measured
Expected

The reason that the values increasingly vary is due to the fact that the system is not perfect and
air is able to escape for freely. The gas in the system could have been inelastic as well. The
heavier the mass added, the more pressure in the system and the less volume there is. Because of
the more hostile system, the gas in the imperfect system can escape through the piston in the
cylinder.
I. SUMMARY
The experiment preformed was to examine the ideal gas law by measuring temperature
and varying pressures, volumes, and masses. The uncertainties associated to the values are
closely looked at to verify the measured outcomes. As the volume of the system decreases, the
pressure increases. The volume can increase or decrease depending on the mass added to the
system (volume decreases and mass is added and vise-versa). Imperfect collisions in the
molecules and an imperfect system could have causes for uncertainties in the measurements.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Eric Dohner; Lab Instructor