PROCESSING THE DATA

1. On your graph, locate the volume value of 5.0 mL; note the corresponding pressure value.
Now follow the relationship until the volume value is doubled (10.0 mL). What does your graph
show happens to the pressure when the volume is doubled? Show the pressure values in your
answer.

When the gas inside the syringe was at 5.0 mL, it had a pressure of 214.11 kPa. However,
when the volume of the gas was doubled to 10.0 ml, its pressure fell to about 104.29 kPa. When
pressure values of 104.29 was divided by 214.11, the quotient was about 0.49. This means that
as the volume of a gas doubles, its pressure halves.

2. Using the same technique as in Question 1, what does your graph show happens to the
pressure if the volume is halved from 20.0 mL to 10.0 mL? Show the pressure values in your
answer.

When the gas inside the syringe was at a volume of 20.0 mL, it was at a pressure of about
50.80 kPa. However, when the gas’s volume was halved to 10.0 mL, it had a pressure of about
104.29 kPa. When the pressure value of 104.29 was divided by 50.80, the quotient was about
2.05. Therefore, when the volume is halved, the pressure doubles.

3. Using the same technique as in Question 1, what does your data show happens to the
pressure if the volume is tripled from 5.0 mL to 15.0 mL? Show the pressure values in your
answer.

When the gas inside the syringe was at a volume of 5.0 mL, it was at a pressure of about
214.11 kPa. However, when the gas’s volume was tripled to 15.0 mL, it had a pressure of about
68.47 kPa. When 68.47 is divided by 214.11, the quotient is about 0.32. Therefore, when the
volume is tripled, the pressure as divided by three.

4. From your answers to the first three questions and the shape of the curve in the plot of
pressure vs. volume, do you think the relationship between the pressure and volume of a
confined gas is direct or inverse? Explain your answer.

Based on the relationship between pressure and volume observable from the graph, as the
volume increases, the pressure decreases, and vice versa. In addition, as the volume doubles,
the pressure halves, and when the volume triples, the pressure is divided by three. Therefore,
since the product of the two variables always produces a constant value (1/2 * 2 = 1/3 * 3), the
volume and pressure of a confined gas are have an inverse relationship.

5. Based on your data and graph, what would you expect the pressure to be if the volume of
the syringe was increased to 40.0 mL? Explain or show work to support your answer.

Based on the data provided, a power regression curve can be created. In my work, I
substitute x for temperature and y for pressure. First, we can take the natural log of the x- and y-
coordinates. The resulting natural logarithmic regression equation is:

ln⁡(𝑦) = ⁡ −104.725 ln(𝑥) + 354.470

This equation can be written as a standard function and the result is:

𝑦 = 1137.5𝑥 −1.0377

This is can also be expressed as:

𝑃 = 1137.5 ∗ 𝑉 −1.0377

Therefore, as per this relationship for air, if a value of 40.0 mL is substituted for the volume, then
the resulting pressure is approximately 24.75 kPa.

6. Based on your data and graph, what would you expect the pressure to be if the volume of
the syringe was decreased to 2.5 mL? Explain or show work to support your answer.

Based on the equation in the previous question (𝑃 = 1137.5 ∗ 𝑉 −1.0377), a volume of 2.5 mL of
air in the syringe yields a pressure of approximately 439.55 kPa.

7. What experimental factors are assumed to be constant in this experiment?

In this experiment, the moles of gas and the temperature of the gas are assumed to be
constant. This is because, if the number of moles of gas or the temperature of the gas
increased, then the pressure would also increase as a result, which would therefore skew the
results. Therefore, for this experimental data to be valid, the number of moles of gas and the
temperature of the gas must be constant.

8. One way to determine if a relationship is inverse or direct is to find a proportionality constant,

k, from the data. If this relationship is direct, k = P/V, because dividing pressure by volume will
give you the same result, no matter which data pair is used. If it is inverse, k = P•V, because
multiplying pressure and volume will consistently result in the same value, regardless of which
data pair is used. Based on your answer to Question 4, choose one of these formulas and
calculate k for the seven ordered pairs in your data table (divide or multiply the P and V values;
you must choose based on which mathematical process results in a constant value). Create a
third column in your data table to represent the calculated constant, k. Show the answers in the
third column of the Data and Calculations table.

9. How constant were the values for k you obtained in Question 8? Good data may show some
minor variation, but the values for k should be relatively constant.

The mean average deviation of the k-values is small at 14.13, so the values for k are
also fairly close together. Since there was only minor variation between the k-values, the data
correctly shows the inverse relationship of the volume of pressure. However, the slight
variations were likely due to the inaccuracy of the volume measurements with the syringe. As
the volume measurements from the syringe are not completely accurate, the resulting pressure
values will change accordingly, causing the k-value to change as a result.
10. Using P, V, and k, write an equation representing Boyle’s law. Write a sentence that
correctly expresses the Boyle’s law relationship between pressure and volume.

This is the inverse relationship represented by Boyle's law:

𝑘
𝑃=
𝑉

An equivalent equation in terms of P and V is as follows: 𝑃 ∗ 𝑉 = 𝑘.This equation was proven to

be correct in the previous question because the product of P and V was shown to be constant.
Because of this, the constant divided by the volume will result in the pressure, proving that the
relationship first presented in this response is valid.