Why do gases fill their containers

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The particles in a gas are: far apart arranged in a random way Particles in a gas The particles in a gas can: move quickly in all directions The attractive forces between the particles in a gas are very weak, so the particles are free to move in any direction.

The table shows some of the properties of gases and why they are like this: Property Reason They flow and completely fill their container The particles can move quickly in all directions They can be compressed squashed The particles are far apart and have space to move into Gas pressure The particles in a gas move quickly in all directions, but they do not get far before they bump into each other or the walls of their container.

Particles in a gas colliding with their container wall. They flow and completely fill their container. The particles can move quickly in all directions. There are yes there are people who think rockets could not work in vacuum because there's no air to push against. They would just "fizzle" :. It sounds like you've just proved that such a container, in the absence of any external forces or constraints, must shift somewhat in the opposite direction, which is the correct answer.

In this way, the center of mass stays motionless. Forcewise, the container is accelerated because the pressure of the gas is unbalanced after the opening is made. It is then decelerated as the gas molecules hit the opposite wall in the process of establishing a new equilibrium. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why does a gas fill the entire volume of its container?

Ask Question. Asked 4 years, 5 months ago. Active 4 years, 5 months ago. Viewed 1k times. To make this expression applicable to a container filled with any number of gas particles we will find the average velocity squared and then multiply by the number of particles. Substitute for the sum of the squared velocities. T is proportional to. Some of the most common are atmospheres atm , pounds per square inch psi , millimeters of mercury mmHg and pascals Pa.

Besides pressure, denoted in equations as P, gases have other measurable properties: temperature T , volume V and number of particles, which is expressed in a mole number n or mol. In work involving gas temperature, the Kelvin scale is often used. Because temperature and pressure vary from place to place, scientists use a standard reference point, called standard temperature and pressure STP , in calculations and equations. Standard temperature is the freezing point of water — 32 degrees Fahrenheit 0 degrees Celsius, or Standard pressure is one atmosphere atm — the pressure exerted by the atmosphere on Earth at sea level.

Temperature, pressure, amount and volume of a gas are interdependent, and many scientists have developed laws to describe the relationships among them.

Boyle's law is named after Robert Boyle, who first stated it in Boyle's law states that if temperature is held constant, volume and pressure have an inverse relationship; that is, as volume increases, pressure decreases, according to the University of California, Davis' ChemWiki.