1666 TEKS header image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Science concepts. The student understands the principles of the kinetic molecular theory and ideal gas behavior.

The further explanation is designed to be a resource for educators that helps them better understand the topic their students are learning. Further explanations may be written at a more complex level than would be expected for students at the grade level.

The relationships among different physical laws of gasses are shown below, where kB is the Boltzmann constant, 1.380649 × 10-23 Joules (J) per Kelvin (K).

A labeled formula demonstrating the relationships between the combined, ideal, Charles, Boyle, Gay-Lussac, and Avogadro’s gas laws.
Image URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ideal_gas_law_relationships.svg
Glossary terms and definitions are consistent across kindergarten through high school in the TEKS Guide. The definitions are intended to give educators a common understanding of the terms regardless of what grade level they teach. Glossary definitions are not intended for use with students.

a hypothetical gas that is composed of molecules following a few rules: ideal gas molecules do not attract or repel each other and take up no space (have no volume)

describes the behavior of ideal gases at the particle level 

Research

Pester, Patrick. "Gases: Structure, Properties and Facts." BBC Science Focus, (2023). https://www.proquest.com/magazines/gases-structure-properties-facts/docview/2842268168/se-2

Summary The ideal gas law combines the other gas laws to create an equation (PV = nRT) for a hypothetical ideal gas, which can be used to determine how gas behaves under different conditions.

Research

Holdmeyer, Dan. (2024). "Compressor Lubrication Fundamentals." Tribology & Lubrication Technology 80, no. 2 (2024): 20-23. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/compressor-lubrication-fundamentals/docview/2923267909/se-2

Summary In a previous article, various compressor designs and how some compressors utilize multiple stages to get to higher pressures were discussed. The authors noted that they needed to cool the air between the stages for efficiency and safety reasons. The author started to explain the relationship between gas pressure, volume and temperature using the various gas laws of Boyle's, Charles' and Gay-Lussac's leading to the Ideal Gas Law: PV=nRT (pressure times volume equals number of molecules times R the gas constant times temperature).