Pressure-Volume Relationship Boyle’s Law Pressure-Volume Relationship
Boyle’s Law Boyle’s Law: the volume of a fixed mass of gas varies inversely with the pressure at a constant temperature. This means that if you increase the volume of the gas in a fixed container, the pressure will decrease. Likewise, if you decrease the volume of the gas in a fixed container, the pressure will increase.
Boyle’s Law You can understand this relationship if you think about what is happening to the particles in the container. If you add more particles to the container (increase volume), they are more likely to run into each other, and therefore, there is more pressure. If you decrease the number of particles in the container (decrease volume), they are less likely to run into each other, and therefore, there is less pressure. What do you think will happen if you increase the volume of the container? Decrease the volume of the container?
Brain Break: Dice Intervals 1: jumping jacks 2: 30 sec wall sit 3: 10 squats 4: Ski jumps 5: run in place 30 seconds 6: 10 wall push-ups
Equation We can represent this relationship in an equation: P1V1=P2V2 Steps: Figure out the known variables and what you are trying to find. Plug in your known variables and solve for the unknown. Make sure you include the unit!
Example: A sample of oxygen has a volume of 150.0 mL when its pressure is 0.947 atm. What will the volume of gas be at a pressure of 0.987 atm if the temperature remains constant?
Example: A balloon filled with helium gas has a volume of 500mL at a pressure of 1 atm. The balloon is released and reaches an altitude of 6.5 Km, where the pressure is 0.5 atm. If the temperature has remained the same, what volume does the gas occupy at this height?