If the initial pressure of a system was 1.00 atm and the volume was halved and the temperature in Kelvin was tripled, what is the final pressure?

1 Answer
Jan 1, 2016

P_2 = "6.00 atm"P2=6.00 atm

Explanation:

Even without doing any calculation, you can say that the pressure of the sample will increase by factor of 66.

Here's why that is the case.

The idea here is to determine if the change in volume and the change in temperature will counteract each other or not.

The way to do that is to keep one constant and observe what happens to the pressure when the second changes, and vice versa.

So, let's say that temperature is kept constant and volume is halved. As you know, pressure and volume have an inverse relationship when temperature and number of moles of gas are kept constant - this is known as Boyle's Law.

color(blue)(P * V = "constant")PV=constant

This means that a reduction in volume by a factor of 22 will trigger an increase in pressure by the same factor of 22.

Now let's say that volume is kep constant and temperature is tripled. As you know, pressure and temperature have a direct relationship when volume and number of moles of gas are kept constant - this is known as Gay Lussac's Law.

color(blue)(P/T = "constant")PT=constant

This means that an increase in temperature by a factor of 33 will trigger an increase in pressure by the same factor of 33.

This tells you that decreasing the volume and increasing the temperature will lead to an overall increase in pressure by a factor of 2 xx 3 = 62×3=6.

You can prove this by using the combined gas law equation

color(blue)((P_1V_1)/T_1 = (P_2V_2)/T_2)" "P1V1T1=P2V2T2 , where

P_1P1, V_1V1, T_1T1 - the pressure, volume, and temperature of the gas at an initial state
P_2P2, V_2V2, T_2T2 - the pressure, volume, and temperature of the gas at a final state

Rearrange to solve for P_2P2 and use

V_2 = V_1/2 ->V2=V12 the volume is halved

T_2 = 3 * T_1 ->T2=3T1 the temperature is tripled

You will get

P_2 = V_1/V_2 * T_2/T_1 * P_1P2=V1V2T2T1P1

P_2 = color(red)(cancel(color(black)(V_1))) * 2/(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(V_1)))) * (3 * color(red)(cancel(color(black)(T_1))))/(color(red)(cancel(color(black)(T_1)))) * P_1

P_2 = 6 * P_1

Therefore,

P_2 = 6 * "1.00 atm" = color(green)("6.00 atm")