Question

What are some examples of Gay Lussac’s Law?

Answer 1

Hint: Gay Lussac’s law explains the proportional relationship between pressure and temperature at constant volumes of gases. It is also known as the law of constant volumes. When two gases react, the relationship between the volumes of the reactants and the products obtained can be calculated using this law.

Complete answer:
Gay-Lussac's law states that when the volume is kept constant, the pressure of a given mass of gas correlates directly with the absolute temperature of the gas.
The applications of the Gay Lussac’s law can be observed every day and some examples are given below.
Pressure Cooker
When a fixed amount of water is heated in a pressure cooker, it evaporates and turns to a fixed amount of steam. If the temperature increases, Gay Lussac’s law states that the pressure increases as well. The valve on top of the pressure cooker maintains the operating pressure within the cooker, which in turns also maintains the optimum temperature. However, if this valve malfunctions and the temperature is increasing, then pressure inside the cooker will carry on increasing, due to Gay Lussac’s law. When the pressure gets high enough, the cooker will rupture and may cause accidents.
Water heaters
The water inside a water heater is heated by heating filaments until a maximum temperature is reached. Modern electric water heaters regulate the temperature of the water automatically. However, if the system malfunctions, then as the temperature increases, the water turns to steam and the pressure inside the heater also increases due to Gay Lussac’s law. As the pressure of the steam increases and exceeds a critical limit, the heater will burst.
Tyres in summer
An inflated tyre contains a fixed amount of gas. In summer, when the temperature is high, the pressure of the gas within the tyre increases due to Gay Lussac’s law. If the temperature carries on increases, the pressure within the tyres will also increase and after a certain point, the tyres will fracture.

Note:
It is important to note that Gay Lussac’s law is only applicable to ideal gases. It works best for real gases at high temperatures and/or low pressure. Beyond this limit, this law breaks down and the ratio between the pressure and temperature deviates.