Question

Suppose you have a gas in a container being pressed down by a piston. The initial volume of the gas is 5.0 m3 and the pressure is 7.5 mmHg. If the volume decreases to 4.0 m3, what is the pressure? (The product of the volume and pressure remains constant.)

Answer 1

9.4 mmHg

Explanation:

This relationship between pressure and volume at a constant temperature and quantity of gas (moles) is shown in Boyle's gas law.
`P_1V_1=P_2V_2`
The volume should use common units as well as your pressures when using this formula. For those who prefer to work with liters as opposed to cubic meters, `1 m^3=1000 L`.
You'll solve for `P_2` and substitute your values (with the subscripted 1 variables being your initial).
`P_2=(P_1*V_1)/V_2`