In the Ideal Gas Law, what does 'n' represent?

In the Ideal Gas Law, represented by the equation PV = nRT, the variable 'n' signifies the number of moles of the gas present in the system. A mole is a fundamental unit in chemistry that quantifies the amount of substance. One mole contains approximately 6.022 x 10²³ entities, which can be atoms, molecules, ions, etc., depending on the context.

Understanding 'n' as the number of moles is fundamental, as it directly correlates to the amount of gas and its behavior under varying conditions of temperature and pressure. It allows chemists to relate the mass of a substance to the number of particles it contains and facilitates calculations involving reactions and gas behavior according to the Ideal Gas Law. Thus, knowing that 'n' represents the number of moles makes it crucial for understanding gas properties and how they relate to temperature, pressure, and volume in ideal scenarios.