Science, Tech, Math Science What Is Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures? Pressures in a Gas Mixture Share Flipboard Email Print Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures: Air at sea level. Max Dodge Science Chemistry Chemical Laws Basics Molecules Periodic Table Projects & Experiments Scientific Method Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Medical Chemistry Chemistry in Everyday Life Famous Chemists Activities for Kids Abbreviations & Acronyms Biology Physics Geology Astronomy Weather & Climate by Todd Helmenstine Updated March 08, 2017 Dalton's law of partial pressures is used to determine the individual pressures of each gas in a mixture of gases.Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures States:The total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the component gases.PressureTotal = PressureGas 1 + PressureGas 2 + PressureGas 3 + ... PressureGas nAn alternative of this equation can be used to determine the partial pressure of an individual gas in the mixture. If the total pressure is known and the number of moles of each component gas are known, the partial pressure can be computed using the formula:Px = PTotal ( nx / nTotal )wherePx = partial pressure of gas x PTotal = total pressure of all gases nx = number of moles of gas x nTotal = number of moles of all gases This relationship applies to ideal gases, but can be used in real gases with very little error. citecite this article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Helmenstine, Todd. "What Is Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures?" ThoughtCo, Feb. 13, 2017, thoughtco.com/what-is-daltons-law-of-partial-pressures-604278. Helmenstine, Todd. (2017, February 13). What Is Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-daltons-law-of-partial-pressures-604278 Helmenstine, Todd. "What Is Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures?" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-daltons-law-of-partial-pressures-604278 (accessed April 22, 2018). copy citation Continue Reading