1. The gases which obeys gas equation PV = nRT are known as ideal gases. The gases which do not obey PV = nRT are known as real gases.
2. The gas laws and the kinetic theory are based on the assumption that molecules in the gas phase occupy negligible volume (assumption 1) and that they do not exert any force on one another either attractive or repulsive (assumption 2). Gases whose behaviour is consistent with these assumptions are said to exhibit ideal behaviour.
3. The following graph shows RT plotted against P for three real gases and an ideal gas at a given temperature.
4. According to ideal gas equation, PV/RT is equal to n. Plot PV/RT versus P for ‘n’ moles oigas at 0°C. For1 mole of an ideal gas PV/ RT is equal to 1 irrespective of the pressure of the gas.
5. For real gases, we observe various deviations from ideal behaviour at high pressure. At very low pressure, all gases exhibit ideal behaviour, ie. PV/RT values all converge to n as P approaches zero.
6. For real gases, this is true only at moderate low pressures. (≤ 5 atm) significant variation occurs as the pressure increases. Attractive forces operate among molecules at relatively short deviation.
7. At atmospheric pressure, the molecules in a gas are far apart and attractive forces arc negligible. At high pressure, the density of the gas increases and the molecules are much closer to one another. Intermolecular forces can be significant enough to affect the motion of the molecules and the gas will not behave ideally.
