Which law describes the relationship between pressure and volume in a gas at constant temperature?

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!

The law that describes the relationship between pressure and volume in a gas at constant temperature is Boyle's Law. This law states that for a given mass of an ideal gas, as the pressure increases, the volume decreases, and conversely, as the pressure decreases, the volume increases, provided that the temperature remains constant. This inverse relationship is mathematically represented as ( P \propto \frac{1}{V} ) or ( PV = k ), where ( k ) is a constant specific to the amount of gas and the temperature.

Understanding the ideal gas behavior is crucial here, as Boyle's Law is foundational in gas behavior studies, especially in applications involving changes in pressure and volume, such as in breathing mechanics or in pistons in engines. This law helps predict how a gas will behave when subjected to changes in pressure without any change in temperature, making it a vital principle in thermodynamics and physical chemistry. Other gas laws, like Charles's Law, which describes the relationship between volume and temperature, or Avogadro's Law that relates volume and the number of moles of gas, do not address the pressure-volume relationship. Dalton's Law pertains to the pressure of gas mixtures, further distinguishing it from Boyle's Law's focus on

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