Ideal Gas Laws
Posted by Amy in Didactic, Study/Sleep Aids on September 1, 2009
I'm currently preparing to take my first examination, covering gases and gas machines. Like most SRNAs, I do not have a degree in physics - and for good reason. Nevertheless, anesthesia providers must know how to deliver and manipulate the flow of gases if they are to effectively oxygenate and anesthetize patients. So, physics background or not, we need to learn and remember a whole heck of a lot regarding the functions and behavior of gases.
One of the first things we were taught? The behavior of all gases is reliant on three characteristics: temperature, pressure, and volume. This gives rise to three "ideal" gas laws:
Boyle's Law
At a constant temperature, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume.
Charle's Law
At a constant pressure, the temperature of a gas is directly proportional to its volume.
Gay-Lussac's Law
At a constant volume, the temperature of a gas is directly proportional to its pressure.
One can imagine how difficult it might be to keep these various laws straight. Fortunately, I have found from past experience that the more inappropriate a study aid is, the more likely I am to remember it. (Sorry, mom!) For example, that old trick to remembering the order of cranial nerves that begins with "On Old Olympus..."? Yeah, it never worked for me. (Note that the reason I didn't finish typing the mnemonic is not that I'm lazy, but because I literally can't remember the rest of it.) However, the second I heard the vulgar "Oh Oh Oh, To Touch And Feel A Girl's Vagina, AH..." I was sold. Now, cranial nerves are a snap.
Well, the same holds for the method I devised to remember the three ideal gas laws. They are as follows:
Boyle's Law
Boyle's is similar to "boils", which relates to a hot (temperature) liquid. Thus, you hold temperature constant.
Charle's Law
The name "Charles" reminds me of Prince Charles. Prince and pressure both begin with the letter "p". In this case, you hold pressure constant.
Gay-Lussac's Law
Finally (and here's where the vulgarity sneaks in), "gay" is a term often related to sexual orientation. "Vagina" is a term that denotes a sexual organ. Vagina and volume both begin with the letter "v". You therefore hold volume constant.
It's a bit crude and may not work for everyone, but it has certainly helped me to differentiate each law from the others and I've been told by a few classmates that it's worked for them as well.
[Click on image for source]
