What happens to gas particles when there is an increase in volume?

Study for the Chemistry Gas Laws Test with flashcards and multiple-choice questions. Each question comes with hints and explanations. Get ready for your exam!

When the volume of a gas increases, the distance between the gas particles also increases, allowing them to spread out more. Under these circumstances, if the amount of gas and temperature remain constant, the particles will collide with the walls of their container less frequently, resulting in a decrease in pressure.

Additionally, while the kinetic energy of individual gas particles is related to the temperature, this situation does not directly result in a change in kinetic energy by itself as long as the temperature remains constant. Thus, the kinetic energy per particle stays the same, but since the volume has increased, the overall pressure decreases due to fewer collisions with the walls of the container.

Hence, the correct understanding here is that an increase in volume without a change in temperature leads to a decrease in pressure as the gas expands. This aligns with the behavior described by Boyle's Law, which states that pressure is inversely proportional to volume when temperature and the number of moles of gas are held constant.

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