Level 5: Pressure and gases

Heat and matter · level 5 of 8 · rough age 12-13 (a guide for parents; anyone can start anywhere)

Mars's air presses down with less than a hundredth of the pressure of Earth's. In this level you meet pressure as force on an area, find out why air presses at all, and use the particle model to explain the gas laws. The level ends with \(pV = nRT\), which turns NASA's pressure and temperature for Mars into the density of its air.

Lesson	You will be able to
Pressure	Use \(p = F/A\), and explain why wide wheels suit soft sand
Air pressure	Explain why air presses, and compare the air pressure of Mars and Earth
Particles in a gas	Explain gas pressure with moving particles
Boyle's law	Use \(p_1V_1 = p_2V_2\) for a gas squeezed or let out
Gases and temperature	Use the pressure law and Charles's law in kelvin
The ideal gas law	Use \(pV = nRT\) to find the density of Mars's air

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