Gas laws 1662 Robert Boyle studied the relationship between volume and pressure of a gas of fixed amount at constant temperature. He observed that volume of a given mass of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure at a constant temperature. Boyle's law, published in 1662, states that, at constant temperature, the product of the pressure and volume of a given mass of an ideal gas in a closed system is always constant. It can be verified experimentally using a pressure gauge and a variable volume container. It can also be derived from the kinetic theory of gases: if a container,
Potential temperature Potential temperature The potential temperature of a parcel of fluid at pressure formula_1 is the temperature that the parcel would attain if adiabatically brought to a standard reference pressure formula_2, usually 1000 millibars. The potential temperature is denoted formula_3 and, for a gas well-approximated as ideal, is given by where formula_5 is the current absolute temperature (in K) of the parcel, formula_6 is the gas constant of air, and formula_7 is the specific heat capacity at a constant pressure. formula_8 for air (meteorology). The concept of potential temperature applies to any stratified fluid. It is most frequently used in the