Unit 10: Properties of Gases
Reading
BJU book: Ch. 10 "Gases"
Topics
Labs
Carbon Dioxide lab
Virtual labs which pertain to the topics covered:
Case Study
Deserted Island Water Supply Scenario
BJU book: Ch. 10 "Gases"
Topics
- Properties of gases
- Ideal gases
- Gas laws
- Partial pressures
Labs
Carbon Dioxide lab
Virtual labs which pertain to the topics covered:
- We have used the "Gas Laws" PhET weblab for many years with great success. It has now been improved and renamed "Gas Properties", and I will need to create a new lab handout for it.
Case Study
Deserted Island Water Supply Scenario
Below: A simple experiment which proves that air contains oxygen. As the oxygen is used up, the egg is sucked into the flask. Can you write the chemical equation for combustion in this experiment?

gas-properties_en__new_version_.html |
Lecture topics
We will spend the next two sessions on states of matter - gases, liquids, and solids. All chemistry courses begin with gases because that's the easiest, and the one which people (Priestly, Lavoisier, Dalton) started studying 200+ years ago.
Carbon Dioxide Lab
We will make CO2 and carry out several experiments on this important gas.
We will spend the next two sessions on states of matter - gases, liquids, and solids. All chemistry courses begin with gases because that's the easiest, and the one which people (Priestly, Lavoisier, Dalton) started studying 200+ years ago.
- Kinetic theory of gases
- Pressure-volume-temperature concepts
- The gas laws: Boyle's, Charles', Guy-Lussac's
- The combined gas law
- The ideal gas law
Carbon Dioxide Lab
We will make CO2 and carry out several experiments on this important gas.
- CO2 makes up about .04% of our atmosphere.
- CO2 is very much a molecule of life. Plants uptake CO2 out of the air and use it to build the carbohydrates, cellulose, and lignin which is necessary for all life on earth.
- This is done in a process we call the Calvin Cycle. This set of chemical reactions that make glucose from CO2 are perhaps the most important on planet earth.
- You would not be here if there wasn't a plentiful supply of CO2 in the atmosphere. Below a certain minimum threshhold level of CO2, all life on earth would cease to exist.
Homework

10._gas_laws_homework_problems.docx |
Deserted Island Water Supply Scenario
Research and submit a 1-1/2 to 2 page report on the following – “On the way home from delivering emergency food & medical supplies to a remote Island Chain, your plane goes down and you & your friends parachute onto a deserted island. You quickly discover that your only source of drinking water is a large pond with smelly and suspicious-looking water. You suspect it contains 1) decaying organic matter - plants, leaves, dead things, etc., 2) dissolved copper from an abandoned copper smelter which operated for 50 years without an environmental permit, and 3) fecal waste and microbes from large numbers of sea birds which frequent the island. How can you purify the water enough to drink? Assume you have a fully-stocked chemistry lab - plus an assortment of tanks, pumps, piping, valves, duct tape, glue, wire, scrap metal & wood & plastic, and an electric generator which can be salvaged from your wrecked plane. You cannot use Reverse Osmosis or any off-the-shelf type of purifier. Start by doing Internet research on removing each of these contaminants. They're not difficult to treat; you just need to do some research. Then design and sketch a small treatment plant - using only the supplies listed - with a description of any chemicals used, the processes employed, and any equipment needed for the overall process. Include as many labelled sketches as needed to describe the treatment process.”
Research and submit a 1-1/2 to 2 page report on the following – “On the way home from delivering emergency food & medical supplies to a remote Island Chain, your plane goes down and you & your friends parachute onto a deserted island. You quickly discover that your only source of drinking water is a large pond with smelly and suspicious-looking water. You suspect it contains 1) decaying organic matter - plants, leaves, dead things, etc., 2) dissolved copper from an abandoned copper smelter which operated for 50 years without an environmental permit, and 3) fecal waste and microbes from large numbers of sea birds which frequent the island. How can you purify the water enough to drink? Assume you have a fully-stocked chemistry lab - plus an assortment of tanks, pumps, piping, valves, duct tape, glue, wire, scrap metal & wood & plastic, and an electric generator which can be salvaged from your wrecked plane. You cannot use Reverse Osmosis or any off-the-shelf type of purifier. Start by doing Internet research on removing each of these contaminants. They're not difficult to treat; you just need to do some research. Then design and sketch a small treatment plant - using only the supplies listed - with a description of any chemicals used, the processes employed, and any equipment needed for the overall process. Include as many labelled sketches as needed to describe the treatment process.”

8._deserted_island_water_supply_scenario.docx |