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Dalton's law

In chemistry and physics, Dalton's law (also called Dalton's law of partial pressures) states that the total pressure exerted by a gaseous mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual component in a gas mixture. This empirical law was observed by John Dalton in 1801 and is related to the ideal gas laws.

Additional recommended knowledge

Daily Visual Balance Check

Daily Sensitivity Test

Safe Weighing Range Ensures Accurate Results

Mathematically, the pressure of a mixture of gases can be defined as the summation

$P_{total} = \sum_{i=1} ^ n {p_i}$ or $P_{total} = p_1 +p_2 + \cdots + p_n$

where $p_{1},\ p_{2},\ p_{n}$ represent the partial pressure of each component.

It is assumed that the gases do not react with each other.

$\ P_{i} =P_{total}m_i$

where $m_i\ =$ the mole fraction of the i-th component in the total mixture of m components .

The relationship below provides a way to determine the volume based concentration of any individual gaseous component.

$P_i =\frac{P_{total}C_i}{1,000,000}$

where: $C_i\ =$ is the concentration of the ith component expressed in ppm.

Dalton's law is not exactly followed by real gases. Those deviations are considerably large at high pressures. In such conditions, the volume occupied by the molecules can become significant compared to the free space between them. Moreover, the short average distances between molecules raises the intensity of intermolecular forces between gas molecules enough to substantially change the pressure exerted by them. Neither of those effects are considered by the ideal gas model.

v • d • e Concepts in distillation
Principles	Raoult's law, Dalton's law, Reflux, Fenske equation, McCabe-Thiele method, Theoretical plate, Partial pressure, Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium
Industrial processes	Batch distillation, Continuous distillation, Fractionating column, Spinning cone
Laboratory methods	Rotary evaporator, Kugelrohr, Spinning band distillation
Techniques	Fractional distillation, Vacuum distillation, Extractive distillation, Reactive distillation, Dry distillation, Destructive distillation, Azeotropic distillation, Steam distillation, Salt-effect distillation