Activity 8: Pressure of a Gas

Directions: Analyze the situations below. Identify the gas law that explains each
scenario.
1. A football inflated inside and then taken outdoors on a winter day shrinks slightly.
Charles law.
2. A slightly underinflated ball left in bright sunlight swells up. Charles Law
3. The plunger on a turkey syringe thermometer pops out when the turkey is done
(The volume of air trapped under the plunger increases when the temperature
inside the turkey climbs). Charles Law
4. The bubbles exhaled by a scuba diver grow as the approach the surface of the
ocean. (The pressure exerted by the weight of the water decreases with depth,
so the volume of the bubbles increases as they rise.) Boyle’s Law
5. Deep sea fish die when brought to the surface. (The pressure decreases as the
fish are brought to the surface, so the volume of gases in their bodies increases,
and pops bladders, cells, and membranes). Boyle’s Law
6. Pushing in the plunger of a plugged-up syringe decreases the volume of air
trapped under the plunger. Boyle’s Law
7. The gauge pressure in a steel-belted automobile tire will be higher when the car
is traveling over hot asphalt than it was when the car was in the garage.
Charles Law
8. Throwing an aerosol can into a fire may cause it to explode.
9. Charles Law
10. A flat tire takes up less space than an inflated tire. Avogadro’s Law
11. Lungs expand as they fill with air. Exhaling decreases the volume of the lungs.
Avogadro’s Law