Ideal Gas (PV = nRT) Piston
Live interactive gas cylinder — set the amount of gas, then drag temperature and applied pressure and watch the piston respond in real time as PV=nRT holds exactly.
Preview — sign up free to change the numbers yourself
What you can adjust
- Heat source (temperature)
- 200 – 800 K
- Amount of gas (n)
- 0.1 – 5 mol
- Applied (load) pressure
- 50 – 300 kPa
- Valve
- 0 – 1
Sets the gas temperature. Higher temperature at fixed pressure means a bigger equilibrium volume.
How much gas is sealed in the cylinder (only meaningful while the valve is closed).
External pressure/load pushing on the piston. 101.325 kPa is 1 atmosphere.
0 = sealed (gas amount fixed), 1 = vented to the atmosphere (gas pressure pinned to 1 atm).
About this simulation
What it shows
A cylinder of gas sealed by a movable piston. You change the temperature, the amount of gas and the pressure pushing on the piston, and the piston settles to a new volume.
The key idea
An ideal gas obeys PV = nRT. At a fixed pressure the volume grows in proportion to the temperature in kelvin, and at a fixed temperature the pressure goes down as the volume goes up.
Try this
Keep the applied pressure at 101.3 kPa and double the temperature control from 300 K to 600 K: the piston rises until the volume has doubled.
The gas is ideal, so there are no forces between molecules and the molecules take up no space. Real gases drift from this at high pressure or low temperature.