A recently developed theory on gas heating in a magnetron sputtering system has been applied to actual experimental situations under different deposition conditions. The equations have been solved for argon magnetron sputtering deposition of aluminum. The set of input parameters of the model has been estimated, proving the direct relation between the characteristic pressure-distance product and the cross-section of the elastic scattering of a sputtered atom on a gas particle, found also in the same theory. The results of the model have been analyzed as a function of the gas pressure and the flow of sputtered particles. Finally the equations have been solved in a realistic situation, and the results compared with experimental data, finding a good agreement between them. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.