Partial pressure refers to the pressure that an individual gas contributes to the total pressure in a mixture of gases. In a container filled with unreacting gases, the total pressure can be determined by summing the partial pressures of each gas present. This concept is encapsulated in the law of partial pressures, which states that the total pressure (Ptotal) is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of all the gases in the mixture.
Mathematically, this can be expressed as:
Ptotal = Pgas 1 + Pgas 2 + Pgas 3 + ...
Understanding this principle is crucial for analyzing gas behavior in various scientific and engineering applications, as it highlights how each gas contributes to the overall pressure within a system. Remember, the total pressure experienced by a container is a direct result of the individual pressures exerted by each gas it contains.