Episode Details

We don't live in a perfect world, and neither do gases - it would be great if their particles always fulfilled the assumptions of the ideal gas law, and we could use PV=nRT to get the right answer every time. Unfortunately, the ideal gas law (like our culture) has unrealistic expectations when it comes to size and attraction: it assumes that particles do not have size at all and that they never attract each other. So the ideal gas "law" often becomes little more than the ideal gas estimate when it comes to what gases do naturally. But it's a close enough estimate in enough situations that it's very valuable to know. In this episode, Hank goes through a bunch of calculations according to the ideal gas law so you can get familiar with it.

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Table of Contents
Large Size + Attraction to Others 3:36
Mendeleev to the Rescue 2:30
The Hindenburg Disaster 6:19
Helium vs. Hydrogen 7:33
Making Fire with Cotton and Your Fist 10:15

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