Name: ______________________________________ Period_______________________

Student Exploration: Boyle’s Law and Charles’ Law

-EACH QUESTION IS 2 POINTS UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE

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Vocabulary: absolute zero, Boyle’s law, Charles’ law, Gay-Lussac’s law, Kelvin scale, pressure

Gizmo Warm-up
The Boyle’s Law and Charles’ Law Gizmo™ shows a container of gas. In
the container, the small purple spheres represent molecules.

1. Observe the particles. Are they all moving at the same speed?

2. How do the particles interact with the walls and lid of the container?

These interactions contribute to the pressure on the walls of the container. Pressure is defined as force
per unit area. The SI units of pressure are newtons per square meter (N/m2), or pascals (Pa).

3. Slowly drag the temperature (T) slider back and forth. (Note: In this Gizmo, the Kelvin scale is used to
measure temperature. On the Kelvin scale, 0 degrees is absolute zero, the coldest possible temperature.
Absolute zero is equal to -273.15 °C or -459.67 °F)

A. How does an increase in temperature affect the speed of the molecules?

B. How does an increase in temperature affect the volume of the container?

 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A: Question:
• Set the temperature (T) to 300 K. How does
Boyle’s law
• Check that the mass (m) is set to 0 kg. pressure
affect the
volume of a gas?

1. Collect data: With the temperature held constant at 300 K, use the Select mass slider to place weights
on the lid. Record the pressure and volume of the gas for each added mass.
16 points for data table (2 points for each cell) _____/16
Added mass Total mass
Pressure Volume
on the lid (lid + added mass)
0 kg 10 kg N/m2 m3
10 kg 20 kg N/m2 m3
20 kg 30 kg N/m2 m3
30 kg 40 kg N/m2 m3

2. Analyze: As the pressure increases at constant temperature, what happens to the volume of the gas?

Increases or decreases or Stay the Same (circle your answer)

This relationship is called Boyle’s law.

3. Create a graph: On the GRAPH tab, select V vs. P. Set m to 0 kg, and click Record to plot a point on the
graph. Select 10 kg and click Record again. Continue to plot for 20 kg, 30 kg, 40 kg, and 50 kg making
sure to press Record after each added mass.

A. Did the graph have a positive or negative slope? (circle your answer)

B. What kind of relationship does this illustrate? direct or inverse (circle your answer)

Get the Gizmo ready:

Activity B: • Press Clear on the Graph tab
Charles’ law • On the SIMULATION pane, set T to 100 K and m
to 0 kg.
1. Collect data: Without changing the mass on the lid, record the pressure and volume of the gas at each of
the given temperatures.
20 points for data table (2 points for each cell) _____/20
Temperature Pressure Volume
100 K N/m2 m3
200 K N/m2 m3
 300 K N/m2 m3
400 K N/m2 m3
500 K N/m2 m3

2. Analyze: As the temperature increases at constant pressure, what happens to the volume of the gas?
Increases or decreases or Stay the Same (circle your answer)
This relationship is called Charles’ law.

3. Create a graph: On the GRAPH tab, select V vs. T. Set T to 50 K, and click Record to plot a point on
the graph. Continue to plot points at 100 K, 150 K, 200 K, and 250 K to create a graph showing the
relationship between temperature and volume.

A. Did the graph have a positive or negative slope? (circle your answer)

B. What kind of relationship does this illustrate? direct or inverse (circle your answer)

4. Apply: Based on what you learned, what would happen to a balloon placed in the freezer?

Deflate or Inflate or Stay the Same (circle your answer)

6. What would happen to a balloon placed in a warm oven? (Assume it doesn’t pop.)

Deflate or Inflate or Stay the Same (circle your answer)

Activity C:
• Complete the following
Gay-Lussac’s Law

10 point for data table (2 points for each cell) _____/10

Pressure
Volume Pressure Temperature
Temperature
0.85 m3 98.1 N/m2 100 K
0.85 m3 196.2 N/m2 200 K
3
0.85 m 294.3 N/m 2
300 K
3
0.85 m 392.4 N/m2 400 K
3
0.85 m 490.5 N/m2 500 K
1. Analyze: Divide the pressure by the temperature to fill in the last column of the table.

2. When the volume is held constant, how does the pressure change as temperature increases?

Increases or decreases or Stay the Same (circle your answer)

3. What do you notice about the ratio of pressure to temperature, when volume is constant?

Increases or decreases or Stay the Same (circle your answer)

Gay-Lussac’s law states that, at constant volume, the ratio of pressure to temperature is constant.
As temperature increases, pressure increases as well.

4.Create a graph: Use your data from the previous

page to create a graph of temperature vs. pressure
on the blank grid to the right, assuming a constant
volume of 0.85 m3. Draw a line or curve to connect
the points on the graph.

10 points for graph _____/10

5. Did the graph have a positive or negative

slope? (circle your answer)

6. What kind of relationship does this illustrate?

direct or inverse (circle your answer)

7. Apply: Based on what you learned, what do you think would happen if you placed a sealed container of

gas into a fire?