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Boyles Law

A gas
When a containers internal and external pressures are equal, the container is at equilibrium, with
the external and internal forces

the ideal
gas law is called the ideal gas law because in real life, gases do
not behave ideally. However, for the sake of simplicity, we
assume that our gases behave as ideal gases. Gases are defined as having variable volume and
variable shape. For this reason, they are affected by changes in pressure, volume and temperature.
The variation of the volume of a gas with respect to the pressure is defined by Boyles Law. The
variation of the volume of a gas with respect to the temperature is defined by Charles Law. Gases
contract when they are cooled and expand when they are heated. Ideal Gas In theory, the particles
of a gas are so small and so far apart, that essentially they do not have any volume and they do not
have any attraction to one another. A gas that satisfies these conditions is said to be an ideal gas.
An ideal gas can be defined by its temperature, pressure, volume and quantity using the equation
= . These conditions are satisfied in reality at low pressure and high temperature
conditions. However, as pressures are increased or temperatures are lowered, deviations from
ideality become more pronounced. This is to be expected because, in reality, particles in gases do
have volume and do exert forces upon one another. Boyles Law If a fixed amount of gas is trapped
in a container and then the volume of the container is changed, the pressure exerted on or by the
gas in the container will change. Historically, this relationship was first established by Robert
Boyle in the seventeenth century and is known as Boyles law. Boyle added one important
condition to his law: the temperature of the trapped gas must remain constant.
The billions of particles composing
The Scottish physicist predicted
2 1
=
2 1
Procedure:
For the most part as described in the lab manual (Do I Dare Disturb the Universe: Verification of
Boyles Law, Dr. Rashmi Venkateswaran, 2000, Exp. 1, p. 1).

Observations
As the volume decreased, it became increasingly difficult to compress the plunger of the syringe,
indicating an increase in force against the plunger by the air within. This application of force
against a surface area is defined as pressure. Thus, a compression in volume was observed to result
in an increase in pressure.
Likewise, when removing the plunger, it became increasingly harder to withdraw, indicating that
the external pressure was no longer balanced in a state of equilibrium with the pressure of the air
outside.
No
Observations/Data/Results
Boyles Law, as stated in the introduction, is a specific application of the Ideal Gas Law =
, where the number of moles and temperature are stable. To test and verify this law, both the
temperature and the number of moles in the syringe must remain stable throughout the experiment.
The presence of the plunger at the end of the syringe created an air-tight seal that mostly prevented
the air used from leaving, and new air entering during the experiment, keeping the number of
moles of substance relatively stable. However, a leak from the syringe was observed during the
experiment, largely unavoidable due to the simplicity of the equipment, resulting in some
fluctuation in the moles present in the syringe.
The temperature and external pressure was kept stable by performing the experiment at SATP in
a room in which there was no reason to assume that temperature fluctuations would occur due to
the closed-off nature of the room. No windows or doors were open throughout the experiment,
resulting in a conservation of external pressure and temperature. However, due to the variability
of the exposure of the room to the sun, the temperature, and thus the pressure (as per Gay-Lussacs
Law 1 1 = 2 2 ) might have fluctuated, affecting the data.
In addition,
It is important to take multiple readings at the initial independent variable, both at the beginning
and the end of the experiment to verify that no variables other than those deliberately changed
between the starting and end times. If the two values are within the margin of error of each other,
then it can be posited that conditions external to the experiment were kept standard. If not, then
conditions other that those being measured changed and the accuracy of the data is called into
question.
Table 1-Data and Results in the Verification of and the Determination of the Value in Boyles
Law =
Pressure (kPa)
st
Volume (mL) Discarded 1 Trial 2nd Trial 3rd Trial Average
Data
20.8 100.74 100.96 100.47 101.10 100.84
18.8 111.95 112.51 111.09 112.73 112.11
16.8 124.00 126.19 123.86 112.73 120.93
14.8 X 143.75 137.30 125.56 135.54
12.8 X 166.54 167.94 164.53 166.34
10.8 X 197.09 193.92 195.83 195.61
8.80 X 224.68 224.86 224.68 224.74
20.8 X 102.00 102.81 98.94 101.25

Volume (mL) Pressure (kPa)


0.8 105.64
2.8 18.00
4.8 10.07
6.8 7.44
8.8 5.85
10.8 5.04
12.8 4.56
14.8 4.59
16.8 4.08
18.8 3.78
20.8 3.58
NOTE: Although the volume was measured by the syringe in whole-number multiples of 2, the air
present inside of the pressure sensor added 0.8 mL to the volume in each case.
1
In conclusion, a validation of Boyles Law as 2 = 1 or 1 = where and are stable was
2 1 2 2
determined by comparing the pressure of air in a syringe at various volumes.
The graph of the function indicates either an inversely proportional or exponential relationship
between volume and pressure. When curve regression is performed using LoggerPro, an
exponential model yields roughly the same correlation as an inverse one. However, since the
exponential model in each case has a limit that methods of analyzing exponential relations can be
applied. This predicts that the change in pressure as the volume changes at stable intervals would
be the same percent different between each stage.

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