Serway & Jewett — Temperature: Problem 43

Starting with Equation 18.11, show that the total pressure \(P\) in a container filled with a mixture of several ideal gases is \(P = P_1 + P_2 + P_3 + \dots\), where \(P_1, P_2, \dots\) are the pressures that each gas would exert if it alone filled the container. (These individual pressures are called the partial pressures of the respective gases.) This result is known as Dalton’s law of partial pressures.