Law of Combining Volumes
The law of combining volumes states that, when gases react together to form other gases, and all volumes are measured at the same temperature and pressure:
The ratio between the volumes of the reactant gases and the products can be expressed in simple whole numbers.
For example, Gay-Lussac found that 2 volumes of Hydrogen and 1 volume of Oxygen would react to form 2 volume of gaseous water. In addition to Gay-Lussac's results, Amedeo Avogadro theorized that, at the same temperature and pressure, equal volumes of gas contain equal numbers of molecules (Avogadro's law). This hypothesis meant that the previously stated result
- 2 volumes of Hydrogen + 1 volume of Oxygen = 2 volumes of gaseous water
could also be expressed as
- 2 molecules of Hydrogen + 1 molecule of Oxygen = 2 molecules of water.
The law of combining gases was made public by Joseph Louis Guy-Lussac in 1808. Avogadro's hypothesis, however, was not initially accepted by chemists until the Italian chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro was able to convince the First International Chemical Congress in 1860.
Read more about this topic: Gay-Lussac's Law
Famous quotes containing the words law of, law, combining and/or volumes:
“Here, lads, we live by the law of the taiga. But even here people manage to live. D’you know who are the ones the camps finish off? Those who lick other men’s left-overs, those who set store by the doctors, and those who peach on their mates.”
—Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)
“When shot, the deer seldom drops immediately, but runs sometimes for hours, the hunter in hot pursuit. This phase, known as ‘deer running,’ develops fleet runners, particularly in deer- jacking expeditions when the law is pursuing the hunters as swiftly as the hunters are pursuing the deer.”
—For the State of Maine, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Like art, revolutions come from combining what exists into what has never existed before.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
“Devise, wit; write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)