Gas Thermodynamics Lab: Verification of Boyle's & Charles's Law
Investigate the fundamental gas laws: **Boyle's Law** ($PV = \text{constant}$) and **Charles's Law** ($V/T = \text{constant}$). These laws describe the behavior of ideal gases under specific constant conditions.
Key Equations & Concepts
▼$$ \frac{P_1 V_1}{T_1} = \frac{P_2 V_2}{T_2} $$ (This is the basis for all challenges, as it incorporates both Boyle's and Charles's Law).
At constant $T$: $$ P_1 V_1 = P_2 V_2 $$ (Pressure is inversely proportional to Volume).
At constant $P$: $$ \frac{V_1}{T_1} = \frac{V_2}{T_2} $$ (Volume is directly proportional to Temperature, $T$ must be in Kelvin).
Experiment 1: Boyle's Law Verification (Isothermal Process)
Adjust the pressure applied to the piston and verify the constancy of the $PV$ product.
Volume is inversely proportional to Pressure (at $T=300 \text{ K}$).
Experiment 2: Charles's Law Challenge (Isobaric Process)
Given the initial state and final temperature, calculate the final volume ($V_2$) or the final temperature ($T_2$).
Both Charles's Law and the Ideal Gas Law **only** work when temperature ($T$) is measured on the **absolute (Kelvin) scale**. $T_{\text{Kelvin}} = T_{\text{Celsius}} + 273.15$.
Kinetic Theory and Microscopic View
This law combines all the individual gas laws (Boyle's, Charles's, Avogadro's). It describes the macroscopic state of a system in terms of microscopic properties (molecular collisions).
**Isothermal** means constant temperature (Boyle's Law). **Isobaric** means constant pressure (Charles's Law). These constraints simplify the Ideal Gas Law for analysis.
In an **isobaric** process (Charles's Law), both **work** and **internal energy** change, meaning heat transfer is required to maintain constant pressure while the volume changes.
