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The gas constant ties pressure, volume and temperature together in one simple relationship.

Physics Facts, sourced to NIST.

What it means

Squeeze a gas and it warms. Heat it in a sealed container and the pressure climbs. Let it expand and it cools, which is how a refrigerator works. All three behaviors fall out of a single equation relating pressure, volume, particle count and temperature, and the gas constant is the number that makes the units agree. It is the Boltzmann constant scaled up from one particle to a mole of them.

The claim comes from NIST, and the page it comes from was read on 2026-08-27 to confirm it still says this.

This is not the kind of claim that goes out of date, which is why it was set as a puzzle rather than a fact with a shelf life.

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