Name: Lilyth Lerma Date: 12/21/24
Student Exploration: Ideal Gas Law
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: atmosphere, Avogadro’s law, Boyle’s law, Charles’s law, dependent variable, directly proportional,
Gay-Lussac’s law, ideal gas, ideal gas constant, ideal gas law, independent variable, inversely proportional,
Kelvin temperature scale, kilopascal, mole, pressure, proportionality, STP, volume
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Why is it often necessary to add air to your car tires during the winter?
Because the air sometimes leaks
2. Why do you think it might be a bad idea to throw an aerosol can into a fire?
It will react with the fire and will create an explosion
Gizmo Warm-up
The Ideal Gas Law Gizmo shows molecules moving within a chamber fitted with
a movable piston. As the piston moves up and down, the volume of the chamber
changes. Since gases expand to fill their container, any changes in the volume of
the chamber changes the volume of the gas within.
1. Next to Dependent variable, check that Volume is selected. Using the green
slider, change the pressure. Note what happens to the temperature, volume,
and amount of gas.
What changes? Volume What stays the same? Temperature
2. Using the purple slider on the tank of gas, adjust the number of moles, or amount of gas.
What changes? Volume What stays the same? Temperature and pressure
3. Now make Pressure the dependent variable. Use the red slider to change the temperature.
What changes? Pressure What stays the same? Volume
and
temperatur
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
, Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
● Select Volume as the dependent variable.
Volume ● Set Pressure (P) to 1.0 atm, Moles (n) to 1.0,
relationships and Temperature (T) to 100 K.
Introduction: The dependent variable changes in response to a change in the independent variable in an
experiment. Independent variables are controlled by the experimenter and are manipulated to see what effect
they might have on the dependent variable.
Question: What are some factors that affect the volume of a gas?
1. Investigate: In this Gizmo, all temperatures are measured using the Kelvin temperature scale. This scale
is based directly on molecular motion, with 0 K equal to –273 °C.
A. What do you think will happen to the speed of the molecules if a gas is heated?
Speed will increase
B. What do you think will happen to the space between molecules, and thus the volume of a gas, as it
is heated?
The volume will decrease and the space between molecules will decrease
2. Analyze: Select the TABLE tab to see your data. With temperature set at 100 K, press Record. Increase
the temperature in 50 K increments, pressing Record each time.
A. What trend do you see? The volume starts to increase as the temperature increases
B. If the temperature of a gas is doubled, its volume will double
C. If the temperature of a gas is halved, its volume will half
If two variables are directly proportional, an increase in the independent variable will cause the
dependent variable to increase at the same rate. If the variables are inversely proportional, an
increase in the independent variable will cause the dependent variable to decrease at the same
rate.
D. Select the GRAPH tab. Choose Temperature for the x-axis. A line with a positive slope shows that
two variables are directly proportional, while a curve with a negative slope reveals that two variables
are inversely proportional.
Based on the graph, temperature and volume are directly proportional.
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
Student Exploration: Ideal Gas Law
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: atmosphere, Avogadro’s law, Boyle’s law, Charles’s law, dependent variable, directly proportional,
Gay-Lussac’s law, ideal gas, ideal gas constant, ideal gas law, independent variable, inversely proportional,
Kelvin temperature scale, kilopascal, mole, pressure, proportionality, STP, volume
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Why is it often necessary to add air to your car tires during the winter?
Because the air sometimes leaks
2. Why do you think it might be a bad idea to throw an aerosol can into a fire?
It will react with the fire and will create an explosion
Gizmo Warm-up
The Ideal Gas Law Gizmo shows molecules moving within a chamber fitted with
a movable piston. As the piston moves up and down, the volume of the chamber
changes. Since gases expand to fill their container, any changes in the volume of
the chamber changes the volume of the gas within.
1. Next to Dependent variable, check that Volume is selected. Using the green
slider, change the pressure. Note what happens to the temperature, volume,
and amount of gas.
What changes? Volume What stays the same? Temperature
2. Using the purple slider on the tank of gas, adjust the number of moles, or amount of gas.
What changes? Volume What stays the same? Temperature and pressure
3. Now make Pressure the dependent variable. Use the red slider to change the temperature.
What changes? Pressure What stays the same? Volume
and
temperatur
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
, Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
● Select Volume as the dependent variable.
Volume ● Set Pressure (P) to 1.0 atm, Moles (n) to 1.0,
relationships and Temperature (T) to 100 K.
Introduction: The dependent variable changes in response to a change in the independent variable in an
experiment. Independent variables are controlled by the experimenter and are manipulated to see what effect
they might have on the dependent variable.
Question: What are some factors that affect the volume of a gas?
1. Investigate: In this Gizmo, all temperatures are measured using the Kelvin temperature scale. This scale
is based directly on molecular motion, with 0 K equal to –273 °C.
A. What do you think will happen to the speed of the molecules if a gas is heated?
Speed will increase
B. What do you think will happen to the space between molecules, and thus the volume of a gas, as it
is heated?
The volume will decrease and the space between molecules will decrease
2. Analyze: Select the TABLE tab to see your data. With temperature set at 100 K, press Record. Increase
the temperature in 50 K increments, pressing Record each time.
A. What trend do you see? The volume starts to increase as the temperature increases
B. If the temperature of a gas is doubled, its volume will double
C. If the temperature of a gas is halved, its volume will half
If two variables are directly proportional, an increase in the independent variable will cause the
dependent variable to increase at the same rate. If the variables are inversely proportional, an
increase in the independent variable will cause the dependent variable to decrease at the same
rate.
D. Select the GRAPH tab. Choose Temperature for the x-axis. A line with a positive slope shows that
two variables are directly proportional, while a curve with a negative slope reveals that two variables
are inversely proportional.
Based on the graph, temperature and volume are directly proportional.
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
