gas constant: Definition from Answers.com

Values of R ^[1]	Units (V P T⁻¹ n⁻¹)
8.314 472(15)	J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
1.985 8775(34)	cal K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.314 472(15) × 10⁷	erg K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.314 472(15)	m³ Pa K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.314 472(15)	cm³ MPa K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.314 472 × 10⁻⁵	m³ bar K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.205 746 × 10⁻⁵	m³ atm K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
8.314 472 × 10⁻²	L bar K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
0.082 057 46(14)	L atm K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
62.363 67(11)	L mmHg K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
62.363 67(11)	L Torr K⁻¹ mol⁻¹
6.132 440(10)	ft-lb K⁻¹ g-mol⁻¹
1545.349(3)	ft-lb R⁻¹ lb-mol⁻¹
10.731 59(2)	ft³ psi R⁻¹ lb-mol⁻¹
0.730 2413(12)	ft³ atm R⁻¹ lb-mol⁻¹
998.9701(17)	ft³ mmHg K⁻¹ lb-mol⁻¹
1.986	Btu lb-mol⁻¹ R⁻¹

The gas constant (also known as the molar, universal, or ideal gas constant, denoted by the symbol R or R) is a physical constant which is featured in a large number of fundamental equations in the physical sciences, such as the ideal gas law and the Nernst equation. It is equivalent to the Boltzmann constant, but expressed in units of energy (i.e. the pressure-volume product) per kelvin per mole (rather than energy per kelvin per particle).

Its value is

$R=8.314472(15)\;\frac{\mathrm{J}}{\mathrm{K\,mol}}.$

The two digits in parentheses are the uncertainty (standard deviation) in the last two digits of the value. The relative uncertainty is 1.8 × 10⁻⁶.

The gas constant occurs in the ideal gas law, as follows:

$pV = nRT\,\!$

where p is the absolute pressure, V is the volume of gas, n is the number of moles of gas, and T is thermodynamic temperature. The gas constant has the same units as molar entropy.

1 Relationship with the Boltzmann constant
2 Specific gas constant
3 U.S. Standard Atmosphere
4 See also
5 References

Relationship with the Boltzmann constant

The Boltzmann constant k_B (often abbreviated k) may be used in place of the gas constant by working in pure particle count, N, rather than number of moles, n, since

$\qquad R = N_{\rm A} k_{\rm B},\,$

where N_A is the Avogadro constant. For example, the ideal gas law in terms of Boltzmann's constant is

$pV = N k_{\rm B} T.\,\!$

Specific gas constant

R_specific for dry air	Units
287.058	J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹
53.35	ft lb_f lb_m⁻¹ R⁻¹
1716.6	ft lb_f slug_m⁻¹ R⁻¹
Based on a mean molar mass for dry air of 28.9645 g/mol.

The specific gas constant of a gas or a mixture of gases (R_specific) is given by the molar gas constant, divided by the molar mass (M) of the gas/mixture.

$R_{\rm specific} = \frac{R}{M}$

Just as the ideal gas constant can be related to the Boltzmann constant, so can the specific gas constant by dividing the Boltzmann constant by the molecular mass of the gas.

$R_{\rm specific} = \frac{k_{\rm b}}{m}$

Another important relationship comes from thermodynamics. This relates the specific gas constant to the specific heats for a calorically perfect gas and a thermally perfect gas.

R specific = c p - c v

where c_p is the specific heat for a constant pressure and c_v is the specific heat for a constant volume.^[2]

It is common, especially in engineering applications, to represent the specific gas constant by the symbol R. In such cases, the universal gas constant is usually given a different symbol such as R to distinguish it. In any case, the context and/or units of the gas constant should make it clear as to whether the universal or specific gas constant is being referred to.^[3]

U.S. Standard Atmosphere

The U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976 (USSA1976) defines the gas constant R* as:^[4]^[5]

$R^* = 8.314\,32\times 10^3 \frac{\mathrm{N\,m}}{\mathrm{kmol\,K}}.$

The USSA1976 does recognize, however, that this value is not consistent with the cited values for the Avogadro constant and the Boltzmann constant.^[5] This disparity is not a significant departure from accuracy, and USSA1976 uses this value of R* for all the calculations of the standard atmosphere. When using the ISO value of R, the calculated pressure increases by only 0.62 pascals at 11 kilometers (the equivalent of a difference of only 0.174 meters or 6.8 inches) and an increase of 0.292 Pa at 20 km (the equivalent of a difference of only 0.338 m or 13.2 in).^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Mohr, Peter J.; Taylor, Barry N.; Newell, David B. (2008). "CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 2006". Rev. Mod. Phys. 80: 633–730. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.80.633. http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Constants/codata.pdf. Direct link to value.
^ Anderson, Hypersonic and High-Temperature Gas Dynamics, AIAA Education Series, 2nd Ed, 2006
^ Moran and Shapiro, Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics, Wiley, 4th Ed, 2000
^ "Standard Atmospheres". http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/atmosphere/. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
^ ^a ^b U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1976 (Linked file is 17 MiB).

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gas constant

Contents

Relationship with the Boltzmann constant

Specific gas constant

U.S. Standard Atmosphere

See also

References