law of partial pressures
- noun
- /lɔː ʌv ˈpɑːrʃəl ˈprɛʃərz/
- Specialized
:
ley de las presiones parciales
- This is Dalton's law of partial pressures and we're going to dive into that on Friday.
Examples
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According to the law of partial pressures, the total pressure of a gas mixture is the sum of the pressures of each individual gas.
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The law of partial pressures helps explain how different gases behave when mixed together in a container.
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Understanding the law of partial pressures is essential for predicting how gases interact in chemical reactions.
Synonyms
Total pressure of a gas mixture equals sum of pressures each gas would have alone under the same conditions
Total pressure of a gas mixture equals the sum of the pressures of each gas
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is transparently compositional: 'law' (a scientific principle) + 'of' + 'partial' + 'pressures' yields a principle concerning pressures that are partial (i.e. belonging to individual components). A B1 learner who knows 'law', 'partial' and 'pressure' can infer it refers to a rule about the pressures of individual gases, though the quantitative details require chemistry background.
Etymology
Law of partial pressures comes from a simple picture: imagine different gases in a closed jar, and each gas pushes on the walls as if it were 'alone' — that is its partial pressure. So the total push on the walls is just all those pushes added together, which is why the law tells us to add each gas's pressure.
