Physics
High School (11–12)
Heat & Thermodynamics › Kinetic Theory of GasesHeat & Thermodynamics › Temperature and Thermal ExpansionHeat & Thermodynamics › Thermodynamic Processes and Specific Heats of GasesChapter 12Kinetic Theory
A gas is mostly empty space. Tiny molecules fly about in it at hundreds of metres a second and hit the walls all the time. Those hits are the pressure. Their energy is the temperature. We start from the gas laws. Then we build a model of moving molecules and use it to explain pressure and temperature. The same model tells us the specific heat of a gas, and how far a molecule goes before it hits another one. Python does the counting for us, for millions of molecules at once.
Part of Physics · High School (11–12) (chapter 12)
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Molecular Nature of Matter and the Gas Laws
Why we believe matter is made of molecules, and how far apart they are in solids, liquids and gases. The gas laws of Boyle, Charles and Avogadro lead to the ideal gas equation, with moles and the Boltzmann constant. Then Dalton's law of partial pressures, and where a real gas stops being ideal.
Pressure, Temperature and Molecular Speeds
The kinetic model of an ideal gas. Molecules hitting a wall make a pressure. The average kinetic energy of a molecule is set by the temperature alone. Gas molecules have an rms, an average and a most probable speed.