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In the ideal gas equation \(PV = \mu RT\), relating pressure P, volume V and absolute temperature T, the quantity μ is

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UPSC CAPF 2026 General Ability and Intelligence Question Paper (19-Jul-2026)
The correct answer is

number of moles

The ideal gas equation \(PV = \mu RT\) relates the pressure P, volume V and absolute temperature T of a gas, where R is the universal gas constant.

Here μ is the amount of substance expressed as the number of moles of gas present, so that PV has units of energy consistent with μ (in moles) multiplied by R (in J/mol·K) and T (in kelvin). It is not the number of molecules (that would require Avogadro's number as a separate factor), nor the specific heat ratio or coefficient of friction, which are unrelated dimensionless quantities.

Hence, μ represents the number of moles of the gas.

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