BOYLE’S LAW AND GAY-LUSSAC’S LAW
Purpose
To investigate Boyle’s law and Gay-Lussac’s law.
Apparatus
PASCO scientific Science Workshop Interface and absolute pressure sensor, rubber tube, syringe,
rubber bung, round bottom flask, thermometer, calorimeter stirrer, and aluminium tray.
Theory
The relationship between the pressure, temperature, mass, and volume for gases at relatively
low pressures and high temperatures is referred to as the ideal gas equation of state, and is given
by:
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇 (1)
where p: pressure
V: volume
n: number of moles
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝑛 = 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
R: universal gas constant = 8.315 J/(mol.K)
T: temperature
Procedure
Part 1 Boyle’s law (pressure – volume relationship)
1. Calibrate the sensor.
a. Connect the Pressure Sensor (Absolute) to the Workshop Interface via one of the
‘Analogue Channels’.
b. Open the DataStudio software and select ‘Create Experiment’.
c. On the top left side of the ‘Experiment Setup’ window, click ‘Add Sensor or Instrument’
and add the pressure sensor. Ensure that you are selecting the sensor from the Analogue
Sensors options. Make sure that the tube and syringe are not attached to the pressure
sensor.
d. Select a sample rate of 20 Hz in the Experiment Setup window.
e. Click the ‘Calibrate Sensors’ button from the top of the Experiment Setup window and
choose the ‘1 Point (Adjust Offset Only) option. Also, read off the value for atmospheric
pressure from the ‘Present Sensor Measurement’ box. Click ‘OK’.
2. Adjust the syringe to 2 ml. This will be the first volume reading. Ensure that you do not handle
the body of the syringe throughout this experiment.
3. Connect the pressure sensor to the syringe via the rubber tube.
4. Open the data window by dragging and dropping ‘Digits’ from the ‘Displays’ pane into the
window. This window shows a numerical value for the current pressure.
5. Click the Start button to begin taking readings from the pressure sensor.
6. Record the corresponding pressure reading from the pressure sensor for the first volume
reading.
7. Adjust the syringe to acquire 7 additional volume readings and record the corresponding
pressure for each reading.
8. Rearrange the ideal gas equation to obtain an equation for pressure with respect to volume.
1
9. Plot a graph of P vs 𝑉 and find its gradient.
10. From the gradient of the graph, find a value for the mass of air in the syringe, given that the
molar mass of air is 0.029 kg/mol and the temperature is 300 K.
Boyles’s law defines the relationship between pressure and volume at constant temperature.
What do your results suggest about this relationship? Do your results agree with Boyle’s law?
Question 1. Why should you not hold the body of the syringe?
Part 2 Gay-Lussac’s law (temperature – pressure relationship)
1. Calibrate the sensor as in Part 1 above.
2. Connect the pressure sensor to the round bottom flask via the rubber tube.
3. Pour the boiling water into the calorimeter to about half full.
4. Place the flask into the water. Ensure that the flask is completely immersed.
5. Open the data window by dragging and dropping ‘Digits’ from the ‘Displays’ pane into the
window.
6. Allow the air in the flask to heat up and record the maximum temperature reached using a
thermometer. Ensure that the thermometer is not touching the sides of the calorimeter or
the flask when taking readings.
7. Press the Start button to begin taking readings from the pressure sensor.
8. Record the corresponding pressure reading from the pressure sensor.
9. Add a few chips of ice and record the temperature and pressure after one minute.
Question 2. Why should you wait a minute before taking readings?
10. Repeat for at least 7 additional temperature and pressure readings.
11. Rearrange the ideal gas equation to obtain an expression for pressure with respect to
temperature.
12. Plot a graph of P vs T and find its gradient.
13. From the gradient of the graph, find a value for the mass of air in the flask, given that the
molar mass of air is 0.029 kg/mol and the volume of air in the flask is 0.0001 m3.
Gay-Lussac’s law defines the relationship between pressure and temperature at constant volume.
What do your results suggest about this relationship? Do your results agree with Gay-Lussac’s
law?
