Basics of Environmental Science

52 / Basics of Environmental Science

The equation of state

Boyle’s law relates the volume of a gas to its pressure (P=k 1 /V , where P is pressure,

V is volume, and k 1 is a constant) and Charles’s law relates pressure and

temperature (V=k 2 T , where T is absolute temperature and k 2 is another constant).

Combined, these produce the ‘equation of state’: P=RρT , where P is pressure, ρ

is density, T is absolute temperature, and R is the gas constant: 8.314 J K-1 mol-1).

Figure 2.15 Structure of the atmosphere