Question

What does the ideal gas law allow a scientist to calculate that the other gas laws do not?

Answer 1

Quick answer: nothing.

There are four gas laws.

Boyle's Law

Volume is inversely proportional to pressure, or `PV = k`.

Charles' Law

Volume is directly proportional to temperature, or `V/T = k`

Gay-Lussac's or Amonton's Law

Pressure is directly proportional to temperature, or `P/T = k`

Avogadro's Law

Volume is directly proportional to the number of moles, or `V/n = k`

Put them all together, and you get

The Ideal Gas Law

`(PV)/(nT) = k` or `PV = nkT`

We usually replace the constant `k` with the universal gas constant `R` and write the equation as

`PV = nRT`

The Ideal Gas Law is simply a combination of the other four gas laws.