Mapua Institute of Technology

School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry

Experiment # 1
GASES

DESPABILADERAS, DAVE J.

CHM12-3L/ B24

CESE-2

OCTOBER 23, 2014

2013107716

Instructor:
Ms. Paula Ching

I.

INTRODUCTION

Gases have its own properties. Gases assume the volume and shape of their containers,
they are easily compressible, they mix evenly and completely, and they have much lower
densities than liquids and solids. According to my Chm12-3 lecture Professor, Maam
Marilen M. Martin, over the years, a number of laws have been developed to explain the
physical behaviour of gases. These laws show the relationships among the pressure,
temperature, volume, and amount of gas. These laws was formulated by famous scientists
such as Robert Boyle, , Jacques Charles, Joseph Gay-Lussac, Amadeo Avogadro, John Dalton
and Thomas Graham to help us understand more the physical and natural phenomena
happening in our environment related to gases.

II.

METHODOLOGY

The first experiment was composed of two parts. The first part is all about the combined gas
law. Combined gas law states that the volume of a fixed mass of a gas is inversely proportional
to its pressure and directly proportional to its absolute temperature. We started the experiment by
preparing all the materials needed such as 125-mL graduated cylinder, crucible tongs, Bunsen
burner, iron clamp, iron ring, wire gauze, iron stand, 600-mL beaker, thermometer, water trough,
100-mL graduated cylinder, barometer, cork with 5 cm piece of glass tubing, boiling chips, 2 test
tubes, 2 test tube racks, 2 corks, 150-mL beaker, stirring rod, 12-in piece of glass tubing with 90degree bend 2 inches from each end, 2mL concentrated hydrochloric acid and 2 mL concentrated
smmonium hydroxide. Next, we make sure that the 125-mL Erlenmeyer flask is completely dry
by passing it back and forth over the Bunsen flame with the use of pair of crucible tongs. Then,
we inserted the 5cm piece of glass tubing into the flask and marked where the stopper extends.
We set-up the apparatus for the next step wherein the flask should extend down as far as possible
in a 600mL beaker. We added tap water to the beaker so that it fills the beaker to approximately 1
inch below the lip of the beaker. We waited until the water is boiling before we get the
temperature. The temperature should be the initial temperature of the air inside the flask. After
that, we disconnected the clamp from the iron stand and place our forefinger over the end of the
glass tubing. The, we removed the flask from the boiling water and submerge it in a water trough
filled with cold water keeping the top down at all times. This must be done so that no air will
enter or escape from the flask. Remove only your forefinger when the entire flask is submerged
and the water will flow into the flask. We manipulated the flask so that the level of water inside
the flask is equal to the level of water outside the flask to make the pressure inside the flask
equal to the atmospheric pressure outside the flask. Next, we get the final temperature of the air

inside the flask. Then, we placed our forefinger over the end of the glass tubing and then lift out
the flask from the cold water. We poured the water inside the flask into a 100mL graduated
cylinder and measured the amount. After that, we filled the flask to the brim with tap water and
inserted the cork with glass tubing to the mark, letting the glass tubing fill to the top and
overflow. Next, we removed the cork and measure the amount of water using a 100mL graduated
cylinder to determine the volume of the air at the initial condition. Finally, we determined the
atmospheric pressure by reading the barometer and calculated the true value of the final volume
of air using the combined gas law equation.

The second part is all about the Grahams Law of Diffusion. First, we used a 2 10ml
graduated cylinder and measured 2 ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 2 ml concentrated
ammonium hydroxide and poured it in a separate test tube. We immediately put the cork on the
test tubes containing the two substances. Next, we put the 12inch piece of glass tubing with 90degree bend located 2 inches from each end. The glass tubing has a cork in each end. We waited
for the appearance of the white ring and marked its location. Hydrogen chloride and ammonia
react to form ammonium chloride which is white. We measured the distance from the end of the
glass tubing to the location of the white ring travelled by each gas using a ruler. Lastly, we
computed the experimental molar mass of ammonia and the percent error of the experiment.

IV.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

One of the most amazing things about gases is that, despite wide differences in chemical
properties, all the gases more or less obey the gas laws. The gas laws deal with how gases
behave with respect to pressure, volume, temperature, and amount. The combined gas law states
that the volume of a fixed mass of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure and directly
proportional to its absolute temperature.
Gases have the tendency to spontaneously intermix and form a homogenous mixture without
the help of external agency. This is due to the presence of large amount of empty space between
the gas molecules that makes their movement rapid into each other. The gases move from a
region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration until the mixture attains
uniform concentration.

Graham studied the rate of diffusion of various gases and gave this law. It states that under
similar conditions of temperature and pressure, the rates of diffusion of gases are inversely
proportional to the square roots of their densities. Graham's law is useful in: Separation of gases
having different densities by diffusion, determining the densities and molecular masses of
unknown gases by comparing their rates of diffusion with known gases and separating the
isotopes of some of the elements.

V.

CONCLUSION

From the experiment we conducted, I therefore conclude that combined gas law predicts
what happens to the one property of the gas like pressure, volume, or temperature when one
or both of the other properties changes because it is stated that the volume of a fixed mass of
a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure and directly proportional to its absolute
temperature. Another thing is that the Grahams law of diffusion makes use of the equation
for average kinetic energy or certain movement of an object so that we can find the rates of
diffusion of two gases or its molar mass.