Heating a gas increases the kinetic energy of the particles, causing the gas to expand. This law states that the volume and temperature of a gas have a direct relationship: As temperature increases, volume increases when pressure is held constant.

Most texts refer to this as Charles' law, but a few call it Gay-Lussac's law, or even the Charles Gay-Lussac law. In 1802, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, a French chemist and physicist referenced data gathered by his countryman, Jacque Charles, in a paper describing the direct relationship between the temperature and volume of a gas kept at a constant pressure.

As long as the temperature stays the same, the pressure increases. As more air goes in, the gas molecules get packed together, reducing their volume. A good example of this is when you fill a tire with air. Increasing the amount of space available will allow the gas particles to spread farther apart, but this reduces the number of particles available to collide with the container, so pressure decreases.ĭecreasing the volume of the container forces the particles to collide more often, so the pressure is increased.

Boyle's law states that if the 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 (opens in new tab). Named after Robert Boyle, who first stated it in 1662. (Image credit: GeorgiosArt via Getty Images) (opens in new tab) Chemist Robert Boyle stated that if the temperature is held constant, volume and pressure have an inverse relationship that is, as volume increases, pressure decreases.

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