Which option best expresses Gay-Lussac's law for a gas at constant volume?

Study for the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Orange 1 Test. Ace your exam with multiple choice questions and detailed explanations. Prepare confidently!

Multiple Choice

Which option best expresses Gay-Lussac's law for a gas at constant volume?

Explanation:
At fixed volume, a gas’s pressure increases directly with its absolute temperature. According to the ideal gas relation P = nRT/V, with n and V constant, pressure is proportional to T. Because this proportionality uses absolute temperature, it must be in Kelvin. That’s why the statement that pressure is proportional to temperature (in Kelvin) precisely captures Gay-Lussac’s law for a gas at constant volume. If you used Celsius, the relationship wouldn’t be a clean direct proportion due to the offset at zero degrees. So the best expression is P ∝ T (Kelvin).

At fixed volume, a gas’s pressure increases directly with its absolute temperature. According to the ideal gas relation P = nRT/V, with n and V constant, pressure is proportional to T. Because this proportionality uses absolute temperature, it must be in Kelvin. That’s why the statement that pressure is proportional to temperature (in Kelvin) precisely captures Gay-Lussac’s law for a gas at constant volume. If you used Celsius, the relationship wouldn’t be a clean direct proportion due to the offset at zero degrees. So the best expression is P ∝ T (Kelvin).

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