If you want to solve for the volume of a gas (V2) and P1 is greater than P2, would you expect V2 to be larger or smaller than V1?

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Answer 1 · 2014-06-23T21:45:31

#V_2# would be greater than #V_1#

The relevant gas law is Boyle's Law:
For a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature the pressure of the gas is inversely proportional to its volume.

#p prop 1/V#

So if the volume of the gas is increased the gas pressure will decrease.

We can also write the relationship above as #pV=# constant

so #V_2 = p_1/p_2*V_1#

In the case of this question #p_1/p_2# is larger than 1 so #V_2>V_1#.