Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures
The partial pressure of an ideal gas in a mixture is equal to the pressure it would exert if it occupied the same volume alone at the same temperature. This is because ideal gas molecules are so far apart that they don't interfere with each other at all. Actual real-world gases come very close to this ideal.
A consequence of this is that the total pressure of a mixture of ideal gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases in the mixture as stated by Dalton's law. For example, given an ideal gas mixture of nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2) and ammonia (NH3):
| where: | |
| = total pressure of the gas mixture | |
| = partial pressure of nitrogen (N2) | |
| = partial pressure of hydrogen (H2) | |
| = partial pressure of ammonia (NH3) |
Read more about this topic: Partial Pressure
Famous quotes containing the words law, partial and/or pressures:
“The great King of kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded
That thou shalt do no murder. Will you then
Spurn at his edict, and fulfill a man’s?
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand
To hurl upon their heads that break his law.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We were soon in the smooth water of the Quakish Lake,... and we had our first, but a partial view of Ktaadn, its summit veiled in clouds, like a dark isthmus in that quarter, connecting the heavens with the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The pressures of being a parent are equal to any pressure on earth. To be a conscious parent, and really look to that little being’s mental and physical health, is a responsibility which most of us, including me, avoid most of the time because it’s too hard.”
—John Lennon (1940–1980)