Charles Law

Charles Law is often introduced after Boyles Law in Chemistry. Below is an explanation of Charles Law including the relationship between Charles Law and Boyles Law. There are many chemistry experiments for Charles Law

What is Charles Law?

Charles Law states that the volume of a fixed mass of gas, at constant pressure, is directly proportional to the absolute temperature.

In another word, as the temperature (T) increases and the particles move faster, they move farther apart and the volume (V) increases.

Mathematically Charle's Law can be written as:

V = constant x T

Where T is the temperature in degrees Kelvin (K) which is found by adding 273 degrees to the temperature in Celsius or centigrade. For example:

20 degree C = 20 + 273 = 293 degree Kelvin.

Who invented Charles Law?

Charles Law is based on the work done by Gay Lussac. Gay Lussac found that a gas expands or contracts by approximately 1/273 of its volume at 0 degree Celsius for ever degree Celsius that the temperature rises or falls.

• 273 cm³ of a gas at 0 degree Celsius will have a volume of 272 cm³ at -1 degree Celsius.
• 273 cm³ of a gas at 0 degree Celsius will have a volume of 263 cm³ at -10 degree Celsius.
• 273 cm³ of a gas at 0 degree Celsius will have a volume of 293 cm³ at 20 degree Celsius.

If the gas were cooled to - 273 degree Celsius or 0 degree Kelvin, its volume will theoretically be zero. 0 degree Kelvin or -273 degree Celsius is called Absolute zero.

Boyle's Law & Charles Law Related