Gas laws

Equipment

• Virtual gas cylinder with piston on a p–V plot
• Sliders for temperature T, volume V, and amount n
• Three process buttons: isothermal, isobaric, isochoric
• Readout line for initial and final states

Procedure

1. Isothermal process

   Press the Isothermal button and drag the volume slider V: temperature is locked, pressure varies inversely with V. Record two (V, p) pairs from the readout; check that the product $pV$ stays constant — the curve is the hyperbola $p = nRT/V$.

2. Isobaric and isochoric processes

   Choose Isobaric: raising T makes the piston expand while p stays constant — verify $V/T = \text{const}$ (T in kelvin). Choose Isochoric: V is locked, vary T and read p, verifying $p/T = \text{const}$. The dashed line on the plot joins each process's initial and final states.

3. Change the gas amount and predict

   Increase the amount n at fixed T, V: pressure must rise proportionally via $p = nRT/V$. Before moving the slider, predict the new pressure, then compare with the readout; try finding the n that doubles p for a given state.

Simulation

Experiment history

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