Meaning of gaseous state (what is it, concept and definition)

What is a gaseous state:

The gaseous state is one of the five states of aggregation that matter presents and is characterized by being composed of molecules that have little attractive force to each other.

The gaseous state together with the state, liquid, solid, plasma and Bose-Einstein are the 5 states of matter identified and accepted by the scientific community, the liquid, solid and gaseous state being the 3 states that are naturally presented against to the conditions on Earth.

The form that matter takes in the gaseous state is called gas. The word gas derives from the Latin word chaos meaning "chaos" and was coined by the chemist Jan Baptista van Helmont (1580-1644) in the 17th century.

Examples of the gaseous state we can mention oxygen gas (O2), carbon dioxide gas (CO2), steam (gaseous state of water), noble gas (helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon), natural gas (used as fuel), helium, nitrogen, etc.

See also:

• Oxygen Carbon dioxide

Characteristics of the gaseous state

In the gaseous state of matter, the energy of separation between the molecules exceeds the force of attraction between them. This results in low density, few shocks, and rapid movements between freely circulating molecules in all directions.

Gases, defined as substances with perfect molecular mobility and indefinite expansion, are characterized by lack of shape and volume due to the free spaces between their molecules. Thus, the gases are easy to compress taking the shape of their container.

General law of the gaseous state

The general law of the gaseous state is based on the variables of temperature (T), pressure (P) and volume (V) in the ideal gases. Ideal gases are defined as those whose molecules have neither attraction nor repulsion, that is, there are no attractive intermolecular forces.

In this sense, the general law of the gaseous state determines that the volume of ideal gases is directly proportional to their absolute temperature and inverse to the pressure received. The general law is characterized by taking the temperature and absolute pressure to determine its volume.

Ideal gas law

The ideal gas law is part of the molecular kinetic theory of gases that broadly defines that all internal energy is in the form of kinetic energy, that is, that any change in internal energy leads to a change in temperature.

See also:

• Energy Kinetic energy

Molecular constants, Newton's laws, and elastic collisions determine the pressure of a gas in a container and the ideal gas law. The ideal gas law is represented by the following formula:

Being:

• P: pressureV: volumen: number of molesR: universal gas constant (8.3145 J / mol k) N: number of moleculesk: Boltzmann constant (8.617385 x 10-5eV / k) T: temperature

The ideal gas law determines: the temperature at a constant volume, the temperature at a constant pressure, and when used with the first law of thermodynamics.

For special gas cases, the gas laws that apply are:

• Boyle-Mariotte's law: with temperature as a constant value, Charles's law: with constant atmospheric pressure, Gay-Lussac's law: with constant volume, constant molecular waves.

Thanks to these formulas and laws it is possible to know the internal energy of a gas, the distribution of energy and determine the specific temperature of the gases according to the molecular speed, the frequency of collisions and the speed of distribution.