Adding a monolayer to the surface reduces the surface tension, and the surface pressure,  is given by the following equation:
where  is equal to the surface tension of the water and  is the surface tension due to the monolayer. But the concentration-dependence of surface tension (similar to Langmuir isotherm) is as follows:
Thus,
or
The last equation indicates a relationship similar to ideal gas law. However, the concentration-dependence of surface tension is valid only when the solutions are dilute and concentrations are low. Hence, at very low concentrations of the surfactant, the molecules behave like ideal gas molecules.
Experimentally, the surface pressure is usually measured using the Wilhelmy plate. A pressure sensor/electrobalance arrangement detects the pressure exerted by the monolayer. Also monitored is the area to the side of the barrier which the monolayer resides.
A simple force balance on the plate leads to the following equation for the surface pressure:
only when . Here,  and  are the dimensions of the plate, and  is the difference in forces. The Wilhelmy plate measurements give pressure – area isotherms that show phase transition-like behaviour of the LM films, as mentioned before (see figure below). In the gaseous phase, there is minimal pressure increase for a decrease in area. This continues until the first transition occurs and there is a proportional increase in pressure with decreasing area. Moving into the solid region is accompanied by another sharp transition to a more severe area dependent pressure. This trend continues up to a point where the molecules are relatively close packed and have very little room to move. Applying an increasing pressure at this point causes the monolayer to become unstable and destroy the monolayer forming polylayer structures towards the air phase. The surface pressure during the monolayer collapse may remain approximately constant (in a process near the equilibrium) or may decay abruptly (out of equilibrium - when the surface pressure was over-increased because lateral compression was too fast for monomolecular rearrangements).