03. The Perfect Gas Law

The Atmosphere, the Ocean and Environmental Change (GG 140)

The Perfect Gas Law relates temperature, pressure, and density of gases in the atmosphere. It can be used to demonstrate why warm air rises, cool air sinks, and helium balloons float in the air. Buoyancy forces act in fluids (both water and air) when fluid is displaced by a parcel of a fluid with a different density. A combination of buoyancy force and the relationship given in the Ideal Gas Law govern the motion of parcels of gas in the atmosphere.

00:00 - Chapter 1. SI System of Units
09:55 - Chapter 2. Pressure and the Ideal Gas Law
20:39 - Chapter 3. Buoyancy Force
39:35 - Chapter 4. Composition of the Atmosphere
45:36 - Chapter 5. Density and Pressure Variations with Altitude

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://oyc.yale.edu

This course was recorded in Fall 2011.