Gay-Lusac's Law Lab Report

Exploration of Gay-Lussac’s Law

Introduction

Gay-Lussac’s law was discovered by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in the late 18th to early 19th century. This law concerned the thermal expansion of gases, and the relationship between temperature, pressure, and volume. The main feature of the law of gases is that any enclosed gas’s temperature is directly proportionate to its pressure.

Research Question

How does temperature affect pressure when volume is constant?

Background Information

Gay-Lussac's law has the concept of the ideal gas law, with constant volume, pressure is directly proportional to the absolute temperature in ideal gas. The expression Gay-Lussac's law is used for each of the two relationships which involves the

The values that will be measure is in increments of 10 ºC; from 0 ºC to 100 ºC. It is best measured, for the cause of the experiment, to take measurements in increments. Temperature is measured to further prove and investigate Gay-Lussac’s Law, as it states that temperature is directly proportionate to pressure. Thus the equation:

P = kT where k is the constant. The equation can be further developed as: = k

Although, Gay-Lussac's Law is also commonly written as:

=

Dependent variable:

Pressure, using the unit Pascal (Pa), is measured using the pressure gauge that is a part of the Absolute Zero Apparatus. Pressure is measured to further investigate the relationship between temperature and pressure.

Controlled variables:

1. The volume of gas inside the sphere, as it was closed and must remain constant in order for the readings to be accurate, as if it is not closed, the pressure will be affected by the room’s pressure.

2. The nature of the gas, the atmospheric gas which is mainly nitrogen.

3. Room temperature must remain constant, otherwise the temperature in the beaker and bath will be affected.