How do collisions between gas molecules and container walls produce pressure?

In the kinetic theory of gases, gas pressure is produced by the cumulative effect of molecules colliding with the walls of their container. Contrary to older, discarded static theories that suggested pressure resulted from static repulsions between molecules, we now understand that pressure is a dynamic process driven by momentum transfer.1

When a molecule strikes a container wall, it experiences a change in momentum. According to Newton’s third law, the wall exerts an impulse on the molecule that is equal and opposite to the impulse the molecule imparts to the wall. The total pressure is defined as the sum of these impulses exerted by all molecules over a specific area and time, effectively representing the force per unit area.1

Because the molecules are in constant, random motion, they frequently strike the walls, and the frequency and intensity of these impacts determine the pressure exerted on the container.1