The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
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The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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One of the gas laws, Charles' law states that at a constant pressure the volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly proportional to the absolute temperature. This law also can be expressed by the equation V/T = constant where V is the volume of the gas and T is the temperature in Kelvin.
Charles' law also is known as Gay-Lussac's law and the constant pressure law. This law was discovered independently by French physicist Jacques Charles (1746-1823) in 1787 (who did not publish his findings) and French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) in 1802. Although Gay-Lussac was the first scientist to announce this law, it is commonly known as Charles' law for its earlier discoverer. Charles' law can be combined with Boyle's law and the pressure law to give the ideal gas law (also known as the universal gas law), pV = nRT, where p is pressure, V is volume, n is the number of moles of gas, R is the universal gas constant, and T is temperature.
Charles' law is one of the ways in which absolute zero is calculated. This is done by extrapolating a graph of volume against temperature. At the point on the graph where the volume of the gas is zero (gas cannot have a volume less than zero), the theoretical temperature is absolute zero, the coldest temperature possible. This point has never actually been achieved, since gases liquefy before they reach this temperature and they are no longer subject to the gas laws.
Charles' law is a good indicator of what happens to a gas, since the volume and temperature are altered while the pressure remains constant.