To Verify Boyle's Law Experimentally

Boyle's law is a famous gas law studied in physics and chemistry. It relates
pressure and volume of gas keeping other parameters (amount of gas and
temperature) constant. There are several ways to verify the law. The article
covers a standard laboratory method to verify the law by studying the
relation between pressure and volume.

Experiment: Air column

Objective
To verify Boyle's law i.e. for a given amount of gas, absolute pressure is
inversely proportional to volume at a constant temperature.
Apparatus
Air column with measuring scale, Bourdon pressure gauge, oil reservoir,
hand air pump, barometer
The air column is connected to the oil reservoir such that the air in the
column is completely sealed off by the oil.
Nomenclature
1. Vi is the volume reading of the gas in the air column.
2. Pi is the pressure reading in the pressure gauge.

Sample observation table

Pressure reading (kPa) Volume reading (cm3 or ml)

650 25

450 33

290 48

230 57

195 64

160 72

110 89

Calculation
3. Pressure and volume are the two parameters are measured
throughout the experiment. The experiment is performed at a
constant temperature which is room temperature. The amount of the
gas in the column is also constant. Thus, the conditions of Boyle's
law are satisfied.
4. The volume readings are in cm3 and the pressure readings are in kPa.
The pressure measured is gauge pressure, not absolute. So, we need
to add the atmospheric pressure to the readings to obtain absolute
pressure. The atmospheric pressure is obtained from a barometer, but
it is considered as 1 atm i.e. 101.325 kPa.
5. For example, a gauge pressure of 650 kPa is an absolute pressure of
650 + 101.325 = 751.325 kPa. The table below lists absolute
pressure.
Gauge pressure to absolute pressure

Pressure reading (kPa) Absolute pressure (kPa)

650 751.325
450 551.325
290 391.325
230 331.325
195 296.325
160 261.325
110 211.325
6. The final table consists of absolute pressure (kPa), volume (cm3),
inverse volume (cm−3), and pressure-volume (kPa cm3).
Calculation table

Absolute pressure Volume Inverse Pressure-

(kPa) (cm3) volume† (cm−3) volume† (kPa cm−3)
751.325 25 0.040 19 000
551.325 33 0.030 18 000
391.325 48 0.021 19 000
331.325 57 0.017 19 000
296.325 64 0.016 19 000
261.325 72 0.014 19 000
211.325 89 0.011 19 000
Note: † rounded off to two significant figures.
7. As observed from the table above, pressure-volume nearly remains
constant i.e. PV = k.

Result
The graph of pressure vs volume and pressure vs inverse volume are
plotted.
As pressure decreases, volume increases exponentially. The graph is an exponential curve.

As expected, the above graph (pressure vs volume) is an exponential

curve. As observed from the graph, pressure decreases with rise in volume
or vice versa.
The graph of pressure vs inverse volume is a straight line passing through the origin.

The graph of pressure to inverse volume is a straight line and follows the
equation y = mx.

Conclusion
The experiment is successfully studied, and the system obeys Boyle's law.
From the graphs, it can be concluded that the pressure of the gas in the
column is inversely proportional to the volume of the gas at a constant
temperature for a fixed amount of gas.
https://teachchemistry.org/classroom-resources/the-gas-laws-simulation