Boyle's Law: Calculating the New Pressure of a Compressed Gas
What happens to the pressure of a gas when it is compressed?
When a gas is compressed, what happens to its pressure?
Answer:
When a gas is compressed, its pressure increases.
When gas is compressed, the volume it occupies decreases, causing the pressure of the gas to increase. This relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas at constant temperature is described by Boyle's law.
Boyle's law states that, at constant temperature, the product of the pressure and volume of a gas remains constant. Mathematically, it can be expressed as:
P1 V1 = P2 V2
Where P1 and V1 are the initial pressure and volume of the gas, while P2 and V2 are the final pressure and volume after compression, respectively.
In the given scenario, a gas initially occupying 900 mL at standard temperature and pressure is compressed to 473 mL. By using Boyle's law, we can calculate the new pressure of the gas.
Standard temperature is 273.15 K (0°C) and standard pressure is 1 atm or 101.3 kPa. Plugging in the values:
P2 = (P1 * V1) / V2
P2 = 101.3 kPa * 900 mL / 473 mL = 192.7 kPa
Therefore, the new pressure of the compressed gas is 192.7 kPa or 1.9 atm.
Understanding Boyle's law and its application in such scenarios can help in predicting and explaining the behavior of gases under varying conditions.