Question

What is partial pressure in chemistry?

Answer 1

The partial pressure is the pressure exerted by a gas if it alone occupied the container.

Explanation:

In a gaseous mixture of several components, the partial pressure exerted by each component is the same as the pressure it would exert if it alone occupied the container. The TOTAL pressure is the sum of the individual partial pressures.

i.e.

`P_"Total"` `=` `P_1 + P_2 +...........P_n`

And assuming ideality,

`P_"Total"` `=` `(n_1RT)/V + (n_2RT)/V + ....(n_nRT)/V`

`=` `(RT)/V{n_1 + n_2 + ....n_n}`