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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2005  > August  >
In the Classroom
Some Insights Regarding a Popular Introductory Gas Law Experiment
Ed DePierro and Fred Garafalo
School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, MA 02115
Cover
August 2005
Vol. 82 No. 8
p. 1194
Abstract
Determining the molar mass of gases or easily vaporized liquids is described in virtually all first-year college chemistry texts to a greater or lesser extent, and is an appropriate activity to engage students once they have been exposed to the gas laws. The Dumas method provides a relatively simple way to determine the molar mass of volatile chemical compounds. This paper alerts readers to a potential source of error in one approach to the Dumas method as it is often practiced in introductory chemistry laboratories. The room-temperature vapor pressures of volatile compounds that might be considered as unknowns for the experiment lead to determined molar masses that are too low. The greater the vapor pressure of the compound, the lower the determined molar mass will be, when compared to the accepted value.
More Information
*  Citation
 DePierro, Ed; Garafalo, Fred. J. Chem. Educ. 2005 82 1194.
*  Keywords
 First-Year Undergraduate / General; Gases; High School / Introductory Chemistry; Laboratory Equipment / Apparatus; Laboratory Instruction; Misconceptions / Discrepant Events; Phases / Phase Transitions / Diagrams; Physical Properties
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 July 5, 2005
July 8, 2005
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