What would the final volume of a balloon with 400mL of oxygen at 1.5 atm was increased to a pressure of 300 kPa?

Answer 1

Use Boyle's Law:

P_iV_i = P_fV_f

Notice that units of pressure are different, Pi = 1.5 atm, Pf = 300 kPa. Need to convert one unit to the other. It doesn't matter which unit you convert to. In this case, I am converting atm to kPa.

1 atm = 101 kPa

1.5 atm x (101 kPa / 1 atm) = 152 kPa

Next, rearrange the Boyle's law equation to solve for V_f.

V_f = P_iV_i / P_f

= (152 kPa x 400 mL) / 300 kPa = 203 mL

**CALCULATION CHECK

According to Boyle's law, pressure and volume are inversely proportional. As the pressure increases, the volume should decrease and vice-versa. In this case, the pressure is increased from 152 to 300 kPa, therefore, the volume should decrease (400 to 203 mL).