Thermodynamics

Ideal gas law - formula in LaTeX

The equation of state of an ideal gas. Temperature must be in kelvins, not degrees Celsius: that is the most common mistake in calculations. The notation itself needs no commands at all, just five letters in math mode.

pV = nRT

LaTeX code

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$$
pV = nRT
$$

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What the symbols mean

$p$: pressure (Pa)
$V$: volume (m³)
$n$: amount of gas (mol)
$R$: gas constant, 8.314 J/(mol·K)
$T$: absolute temperature (K)

A thermodynamics formula - useful for gas processes, heat balances and physical chemistry.

Worked example

Two moles of gas in a 50 litre cylinder at 27 °C. Temperature goes in as kelvin, 300 K, and the compound unit J/(mol·K) is written in a single \mathrm, parentheses included.

p = \dfrac{nRT}{V} = \dfrac{2\,\mathrm{mol} \cdot 8.314\,\mathrm{J/(mol\,K)} \cdot 300\,\mathrm{K}}{0.05\,\mathrm{m^3}} \approx 99.8\,\mathrm{kPa}

How to use this formula in LaTeX?

Copy the code with the button above - $$…$$ is centered display math.
Paste it into the CamteX editor, Overleaf or any LaTeX document.
Inside a sentence, use single $…$ instead of double.
The formula works without extra packages.

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