Final answer:
Gay-Lussac's Law states that the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature, at constant volume. It is key in predicting gas behavior under thermal changes, with temperatures measured in kelvins.
Step-by-step explanation:
Gay-Lussac's Law describes the relationship between the pressure and temperature of a gas at constant volume. The law asserts that the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature when the volume is kept constant. In essence, if the temperature of a gas increases, so does its pressure, assuming the amount of gas and the volume it occupies do not change. This relationship is crucial in understanding how gases behave under different thermal conditions. It is worth noting that temperatures in gas laws, including Gay-Lussac's Law, must be expressed in kelvins.
The finding by the French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac also implies that if you graph the pressure of a gas against its temperature, you will obtain a straight line, reflecting the direct proportionality. This becomes a handy tool for predicting how a gas will react when subjected to temperature changes, as long as the volume is maintained. Gay-Lussac's work greatly contributes to the field of thermodynamics and the study of gaseous states.