Question

What is the total pressure in kPa exerted by a mixture containing two gases if the partial pressure of one gas is 11.1 kPa and the partial pressure of the other gas is 9.3 kPa?

Answer 1

Partial pressure is the force that the molecules of a gas exert on the walls of a container, which is exactly the same force that it would exert if it were in a gas mixture.

So the pressure exerted by a gaseous mixture (Total Pressure, Pt) on the walls of a container is equal to the sum of the individual partial pressures of each of the component gases of that mixture.

So the total pressure is calculated in this way:

Pt = 11.1 + 9.3

Pt = 20.4 kPa

Answer: Pt = 20.4 kPa