Gay-Lussac's law

Under STP, a reaction between three cubic meters of hydrogen gas and one cubic meter of nitrogen gas will produce about two cubic meters of ammonia.

The law of combining volumes states that when gases chemically react together, they do so in amounts by volume which bear small whole-number ratios (the volumes calculated at standard temperature and pressure).

The ratio between the volumes of the reactant gases and the gaseous products can be expressed in simple whole numbers.

For example, Gay-Lussac found that two volumes of hydrogen and one volume of oxygen would react to form two volumes of gaseous water. Based on Gay-Lussac's results, Amedeo Avogadro hypothesized that, at the same temperature and pressure, equal volumes of gas contain equal numbers of molecules (Avogadro's law). This hypothesis meant that the previously stated result

2 volumes of hydrogen + 1 volume of oxygen = 2 volume of gaseous water

could also be expressed as

2 molecules of hydrogen + 1 molecule of oxygen = 2 molecule of water.

It can also be expressed in another way of example, 100 mL of hydrogen combine with 50 mL of oxygen to give 100 mL of water vapour. Hydrogen(100 mL) + Oxygen(50 mL) = Water(100 mL)

Thus, the volumes of hydrogen and oxygen which combine (i.e., 100mL and 50mL) bear a simple ratio of 2:1.

The law of combining gases was made public by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1808.[3][4] However, Avogadro's hypothesis was not initially accepted by chemists until the Italian chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro convinced the First International Chemical Congress in 1860.[5]

In the 17th century Guillaume Amontons discovered a regular relationship between the pressure and temperature of a gas at constant volume. Some introductory physics textbooks still define the pressure-temperature relationship as Gay-Lussac's law.[6][7][8] Gay-Lussac primarily investigated the relationship between volume and temperature and published it in 1802, but his work did cover some comparison between pressure and temperature.[9] Given the relative technology available to both men, Amontons could only work with air as a gas, whereas Gay-Lussac was able to experiment with multiple types of common gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen.[10]

Regarding the volume-temperature relationship, Gay-Lussac attributed his findings to Jacques Charles because he used much of Charles's unpublished data from 1787 – hence, the law became known as Charles's law or the Law of Charles and Gay-Lussac.[11]

Amontons's, Charles', and Boyle's law form the combined gas law. These three gas laws in combination with Avogadro's law can be generalized by the ideal gas law.

Gay-Lussac used the formula acquired from ΔV/V = αΔT to define the rate of expansion α for gases. For air, he found a relative expansion ΔV/V = 37.50% and obtained a value of α = 37.50%/100°C = 1/266.66°C which indicated that the value of absolute zero was approximately 266.66°C below 0°C.[12] The value of the rate of expansion α is approximately the same for all gases and this is also sometimes referred to as Gay-Lussac's Law. See the introduction to this article, and Charles's Law.

• Avogadro's law – Relationship between volume and amount of a gas at constant temperature and pressure
• Boyle's law – Relationship between pressure and volume in a gas at constant temperature
• Charles's law – Relationship between volume and temperature of a gas at constant pressure
• Combined gas law – Combination of Charles', Boyle's and Gay-Lussac's gas laws

• Castka, Joseph F.; Metcalfe, H. Clark; Davis, Raymond E.; Williams, John E. (2002). Modern Chemistry. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 978-0-03-056537-3.
• Guch, Ian (2003). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chemistry. Alpha, Penguin Group Inc. ISBN 978-1-59257-101-7.
• Mascetta, Joseph A. (1998). How to Prepare for the SAT II Chemistry. Barron's. ISBN 978-0-7641-0331-5.