PHYS 1010Q Lecture 13: Microscopic Origin of Pressure, Temperature, Ideal Gas Law
PHYS 1010Q verified notes
13/14View all
Document Summary
Microscopic origin of pressure, temperature, ideal gas law. The gas molecules inside the tire are perpetually moving helter-skelter and banging against the inside wall of the tire. All of these impacts and collisions with the tire wall produces an outward pointing force. The average force divided by the surface area of the tire is the pressure. Suppose you double the number of air molecules inside the tire. If these air molecules move with the same average speed, then the number of collisions with the inside wall of tire also doubles. Thus the pressure should be proportional to the number of molecules. We can also double the pressure by compressing a xed amount of air to half of its original volume. This result is sometimes called boyle"s law (with a small l). As long as the average speed of the molecules stays constant, then pv stays constant, The molecules of any substance are always in random motion.
