Boyle's Law

Boyle’s Law
 Objective:
 The goal of this lesson is to explain the relationship between
the volume and pressure of a gas.
 Boyle's Law: Volume and Pressure

Boyle's Law describes the inverse relationship between the pressure and volume of a
fixed amount of gas at a constant temperature.
Boyle's Law (sometimes referred to as the Boyle-Mariotte Law) states that the absolute
pressure and volume of a given mass of confined gas are inversely proportional, provided the
temperature remains unchanged within a closed system. This can be stated mathematically as
follows:
P1V1=P2V2
 History and Derivation of Boyle's Law

The law was named after chemist and physicist
Robert Boyle, who published the original law in 1662.
Boyle showed that the volume of air trapped by
a liquid in the closed short limb of a J-shaped tube
decreased in exact proportion to the pressure produced
by the liquid in the long part of the tube.
The trapped air acted much like a spring, exerting
a force opposing its compression. Boyle called this
effect "the spring of the air" and published his results in
a pamphlet with that title. The difference between the
heights of the two mercury columns gives the pressure
(76 cm = 1 atm), and the volume of the air is calculated from the length of the air column and the
tubing diameter.
The law itself can be stated as follows: for a fixed amount of an ideal gas kept at a fixed
temperature, P (pressure) and V (volume) are inversely proportional—that is, when one doubles,
the other is reduced by half.
Remember that these relations hold true only if the number of molecules (n) and the
temperature (T) are both constant.
 Example:
In an industrial process, a gas confined to a volume of 1 L at a pressure of 20 atm is
allowed to flow into a 12-L container by opening the valve that connects the two containers.
What is the final pressure of the gas?
Set up the problem by setting up the known and unknown variables. In this case, the
initial pressure is 20 atm (P1), the initial volume is 1 L (V1), and the new volume is 1L + 12 L =
13 L (V2), since the two containers are connected. The new pressure (P2) remains unknown.
GIVEN:
V1 = 1L
P1 = 20 atm
V2 = 13L
P2 = ?
FORMULA: P1V1 = P2V2
P1V1
P2 =
V2
(20 𝑎𝑡𝑚)(1𝐿)
=
13L
20 𝑎𝑡𝑚
=
13
P2 = 1.54 atm.
The final pressure of the gas is 1.54 atm.
KEY POINTS
 According to Boyle's Law, an inverse relationship exists between pressure and volume.
 Boyle's Law holds true only if the number of molecules (n) and the temperature (T) are both
constant.
 Boyle's Law is used to predict the result of introducing a change in volume and pressure only,
and only to the initial state of a fixed quantity of gas.
 The relationship for Boyle's Law can be expressed as follows: P1V1 = P2V2, where P1 and
V1 are the initial pressure and volume values, and P2 and V2 are the values of the pressure
and volume of the gas after change.
TERMS
 isotherm
in thermodynamics, a curve on a p-V diagram for an isothermal process
 Boyle's law
the absolute pressure and volume of a given mass of confined gas are inversely proportional,
while the temperature remains unchanged within a closed system
 ideal gas
a theoretical gas composed of a set of randomly-moving, non-interacting point particles
Activity:
Boyle’s Law
 Objective:
 Predict how changes in volume, temperature, and
pressure affect the behavior of a gas.
This simple activity is an excellent way to introduce students to the relationship between
pressure and volume of an enclosed gas. Although students do not collect quantitative data, they
are able to discover that pressure and volume are inversely related.
 Materials:
 60 mL syringe with Luer Lock tip
 syringe tip caps
 miniature marshmallow
Note: syringes and tips can be purchased from Flinn Scientific. Syringes without caps may also
be used.
 Procedure:
1. Place a miniature marshmallow inside syringe.
2. Move plunger to about 30 mL.
3. Put cap on tip (or hold finger over end) so no air can escape.
4. Experiment by moving the plunger back and forth, increasing and decreasing volume
of container. Observe what happens to the marshmallow.
Guide Questions:
1. As the volume of the container decreased what happened to the pressure exerted by
the air? How did that affect the marshmallow?
2. As the volume of the container increased what happened to the pressure exerted by
the air? How did that affect the marshmallow?
3. Did the temperature of the air change?
Evaluation:
DIRECTIONS: Choose the correct answer.
1. What is a mathematical expression of Boyle's Law?
a. P1V2=P2V1 c. P1/V1=P1/V1
b. P1V1=P2V2 d. P1V2=P2/V1
2. Constant used in Boyle's law is
a. pressure c. volume
b. temperature d. energy
3. Boyle's law is used only for
a. non ideal gases c. ideal gases
b. light gases d. heavy gases
4. Graph for Boyle's law is called
a. isotherm c. hypotherm
b. hypertherm d. none
5. A gas occupies 250 ml at 760 torr. What would its volume be if the pressure was changed to
380 torr?
a. unchanged c. 125 ml
b. 500 ml d. 1155 ml
6. A 15 cubic centimeter bag of potato chips is manufactured and sealed in a factory in Maryland
where atmospheric pressure is 1.01 atm. The bag is then shipped to Binghamton, where
atmospheric pressure is 0.85 atm when you buy the bag. What is the actual volume of the bag
you bought?
a. 17.8 cubic centimeters c. 2.4 cubic centimeters
b. 15 cubic centimeters d. 10 cubic centimeters
7. A discarded spray paint can contains only a small amount of the propellant gas at a pressure of
258.6 mm Hg. The volume of the can is 473.2 ml. If the can is run over by the garbage truck and
flattened to a volume of 13.16 ml, what is the pressure of the propellant?
a. 744.9 mm Hg c. 118966 mm Hg
b. 7.19 mm Hg d. 9299 mm Hg
8. A gas occupies 890 cubic feet at a pressure of 760 torr. At what pressure would the gas occupy
500 cubic feet?
a. 427 torr c. 586 torr
b. 2150 torr d. 1352.8 torr
9. For Boyle's law if we plot graph between inverse of volume and pressure result is
a. curve line c. circular line
b. straight line d. elliptical
10. If the temperature is held constant, and the volume of a certain amount of gas is reduced, the
pressure must:
a. increase c. stay the same
b. decrease d. change, but in no predictable way
Enrichment:
DIRECTIONS: Answer this question:
1. A gas occupies 11.2 liters at 0.860 atm. What is the
pressure when the volume is 15.0 liters?
Assume that the temperature and amount of gas remain
the same.
References:
 http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-
projects/project_ideas/Chem_p018.shtml
 https://www.boundless.com/chemistry/textbooks/boundless-chemistry-
textbook/gases-5/gas-laws-51/boyle-s-law-volume-and-pressure-254-8360/
 https://gchem.cm.utexas.edu/pdf/worksheets/States-Section2-
Supplemental-GasLaws-KEY.pdf
 http://archive.jc-
schools.net/dynamic/science/worksheets/Boyle'sLawActivity.pdf
Key Answers:
 EVALUATION:
1. B 6. A
2. B 7. D
3. C 8. D
4. A 9. B
5. B 10. A
 ENRICHMENT:
1. A gas occupies 11.2 liters at 0.860 atm. What is the pressure when
the volume is 15.0 liters?
Assume that the temperature and amount of gas remain the
same.
Here I recognize that only values for volume and pressure are given and asked for in the
problem. The temperature and amount of gas remain constant. Therefore, we can use Boyle’s
Law to solve this problem.
GIVEN: P1 = 0.860atm
V1 = 11.2L
V2 = 15.0L
P2 = ?
SOL’N: P1V1 = P2V2

P1V1
P2 =
V2
(0.860 atm)(11.2 L)
=
15.0L
9.632 atm
=
15.0
P2 = 0.642 atm
I observe that as the volume of the gas increased, the pressure of the gas decreased. This
observation makes sense according to Boyle’s Law, which describes the inversely proportional
relationship between volume and pressure of a fixed amount of gas at a constant temperature.

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Boyle’s Law

 Boyle's Law: Volume and Pressure

 History and Derivation of Boyle's Law

SOL’N: P1V1 = P2V2

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