Lesson 5 of 7
Gas pressure
Goal: Explain gas pressure using particles.
The particles of a gas fly about and hit the walls of their container. Each hit gives the wall a tiny push. Together, the pushes make gas pressure.
- More particles, more hits. Pumping more air into a tyre raises the pressure inside it.
- Less space, more hits. Squash a gas and its particles hit the walls more often.
- Hotter particles move faster. Heat a gas in a sealed container and its particles hit the walls harder and more often, so the pressure goes up.
- No particles, no pressure. A space with no particles in it is called a vacuum.
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Key words in this lesson
Particle A tiny piece of matter, far too small to see
Gas Spreads out to fill its container, and can be squashed
Gas pressure Caused by gas particles hitting the walls of their container
Vacuum A space with no particles in it