Thermodynamics: Gas Volume
- Mole
- Gas Volume 🢀
- States of Matter
- Heat
- Enthalpy
- Thermodynamics
- Adiabatic Process
- Mass Energy Conservation
- Carnot Engine
A specified amount of solid or fluid takes up a limited volume of space, that can be computed easily. In fact:
where V = volume, m = mass, ρ = density (i.e. specific weight). For example, the volume of 1 kg petrol is 1/720 = 1.4 · 10-3 m3 (I will always use SI units except when otherwise stated).
But what is the volume of 1 kg oxygen? We have to use the ideal gas law:
where
p = pressure [Pa]
V = volume
n = number of moles
R = universal gas constant = 8.314462 [SI units]
T = temperature [Kelvin]
It follows that:
and we see that the volume depends not only on the amount of gas (n = number of moles) but also on the temperature and presssure. As an example, let us compute the volume of 1 kg oxygen at the so called Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) conditions that are characterized by:
p = 1 atm = 101325 Pa.
T = 0° C = 273.15° K
One mole of oxygen O2 has the mass 2 · 16 g = 0.032 kg. So, 1 kg oxygen contains n = 1 / 0.032 = 31.25 moles and its volume is
Should we conclude that 1 kg oxygen remains enclosed in 0.7 m3? No, the oxygen will expand arbitrarily. The interpretation should be: 1 kg oxygen in a container with 0.7 m3 will execute 1 atm pressure on the container walls. It is in equilibrium with the enclosing air at 1 atm pressure.
The formula (3) can be easily generalized for the mass m of any gas with molar mass M [kg/mol].
As an example let us compute the volume of m kg air at room conditions. The air is composed of about 80% nitrogen N2 and 20% oxygen O2:
p = 1 atm = 101325 Pa
T = 21°C = 294.15°K (these conditions are called NTP - Normal Temperature and Pressure)
Moxygen = 0.032 kg/mol
Mnitrogen = 0.028 kg/mol
Mair = 0.032 * 20% + 0.028 * 80% = 0.029 kg/mol (exact value is 0.0289647)
The equation (5) can be reformulated to get the density ρ of gas:
Here I introduced the specific gas constant Rspec = R / M (M = molar mass). The specific gas constant for air is 287.058 [SI units] according to Wikipedia. The density of air is:
Now we can calculate the density of gas and use the same equation (1) as for fluids and solids. As an example let us compute the weight of air in a living room with dimensions 5 x 4 x 2.5 = 50 m3:
We can keep in mind: 1 m3 of air weighs more than 1 kg. Air is about 1000-times lighter than water.