The equipment uses normal clean dry air, as it behaves as an ideal gas over the range of pressures used in this equipment. A thermocouple measures the temperature of the heater surface for the controller. Two thermocouples measure the temperature of the air in the vessel. A pressure transducer measures the pressure of the heated air in the vessel. A hand-operated valve at the bottom of the vessel allows students to normalize the air in the vessel to ambient conditions. A digital display shows the absolute pressure, both temperatures and their average value. The bench-mounting equipment includes a back plate that holds a low-pressure vessel. The vessel holds a fixed volume of air surrounded by an insulated heater, controlled by an electronic temperature controller. They then record the changes in pressure as the temperature increases and plot the results to prove Gay-Lussacs Law. Students set the controller for the range of temperatures needed during the experiment.
Experiments:
The principle of a vapour pressure thermometer.
Demonstrates change of pressure of a fixed volume of gas during heating.
Proving Gay-Lussacs Law by experiment.
