Boyles Law

I INTRODUCTION
Boyles Law, law of chemistry developed by !"lish chemist Robert Boyle that relates cha!"es i! the press#re of a "as to cha!"es i! its vol#me$ Boyles law was developed i! the mid%&'((s, a!d it deals with ideal "ases$ )! ideal *or perfect+ "as is o!e i! which there is !o i!teractio! betwee! the i!divid#al molec#les, or the smallest particles, of the "as$ Boyles law states that the press#re *P+ of a! ideal "as at a co!sta!t temperat#re varies i!versely with its vol#me *V+, that is, press#re i!creases as vol#me decreases, a!d vice versa$ The press#re of a "as is the amo#!t of force per #!it of area that the "as e-erts o! its co!tai!er$ The vol#me of the "as is the three%dime!sio!al si.e of its co!tai!er$ )ccordi!" to Boyles law, the prod#ct of a! ideal "ass press#re a!d its vol#me is co!sta!t$ The mathematical e-pressio! of Boyles law is PV = constant. See also /ases$ Boyles law is o!ly appro-imate for real "ases, b#t predicts a "ass behavior more acc#rately as the "as behaves more li0e a! ideal "as$ U!der co!ditio!s that mi!imi.e co!tact betwee! "as molec#les1low press#re a!d hi"h temperat#re, for e-ample1Boyles law is #sef#l for st#dyi!" real "ases$

II

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Boyle developed his law thro#"h e-perime!tatio!1e-ami!i!" a!d meas#ri!" systems of "ases1b#t he did !ot 0!ow why "ases followed this r#le$ I! the &8th ce!t#ry scie!tists developed the 0i!etic theory of "ases to e-plai! the behavior of "ases$ This theory describes a "as as a collectio! of ti!y, hard spheres that i!teract with each other a!d with the s#rface of the "ass co!tai!er$ These spheres represe!t the molec#les i! the "as a!d behave accordi!" to the laws of motio! developed by !"lish scie!tist 5ir Isaac Newto! i! the late &9th ce!t#ry$ The 0i!etic theory is !ow the most widely accepted e-pla!atio! of the theory of "as behavior$ It describes how i!teractio!s betwee! molec#les i!fl#e!ce "as characteristics s#ch as temperat#re a!d press#re$ It also e-plai!s why "ases follow Boyles law$ )ccordi!" to the 0i!etic theory, the press#re of a "as is ca#sed by collisio!s betwee! "as molec#les a!d the co!tai!er walls$ The temperat#re of a "as is directly related to the avera"e speed of the "as molec#les$ I! a "as at a co!sta!t temperat#re, the speed of the molec#les remai!s co!sta!t$ If a scie!tist red#ces the vol#me of the co!tai!er, the molec#les will have less dista!ce to travel before they hit a co!tai!er wall$ Therefore, the molec#les will hit the co!tai!er wall more ofte!, res#lti!" i! a hi"her press#re$ If the vol#me is i!creased, the molec#les will hit the co!tai!er walls less ofte!, red#ci!" press#re$

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Boyles wor0 o! "ases was i!spired by Italia! astro!omer /alileos s#""estio! that vac##ms, or re"io!s where !o matter was prese!t, mi"ht e-ist$ Boyle st#died co!tai!ers filled with air or other "ases, a!d compared them to co!tai!ers from which the air had bee! almost totally removed$ /erma! i!ve!tor Otto vo! /#eric0e i!ve!ted the vac##m p#mp i! &':(, a!d Boyle #sed a! improved versio! of /#eri0es device to evac#ate co!tai!ers for his e-perime!ts later that decade$

I! his e-perime!ts, Boyle proved that air was !ecessary for the tra!smissio! of so#!d a!d for s#bsta!ces to b#r!$ Boyle believed that the differe!ce betwee! air a!d a vac##m was evide!ce that "ases had a mecha!ical atomic str#ct#re a!d behavior$ Boyle the! i!vesti"ated the elasticity of air by trappi!" some air i! a t#be$ 3e did this by po#ri!" merc#ry i!to the ope! e!d of a U%shaped t#be a!d seali!" the other e!d of the t#be$ The merc#ry trapped a fi-ed amo#!t of air, !o matter how m#ch merc#ry Boyle #sed$ 3owever, the vol#me that the air occ#pied varied as Boyle cha!"ed the amo#!t of merc#ry$ If he #sed more merc#ry, the air was forced i!to a smaller vol#me$ By meas#ri!" the press#re of the air, Boyle was able to develop the r#le later 0!ow! as Boyles law$ 3e p#blished his res#lts i! &''( i! a boo0 called The Spring of Air. The ideal "as law is a more "e!eral law tha! Boyles law$ It describes how a "as respo!ds to cha!"es i! vol#me, press#re, a!d temperat#re$ Boyles law was a! importa!t part of the form#latio! of the ideal "as law$ I! the &9;(s 6re!ch chemist <ac=#es Charles developed Charless law, which relates the vol#me a!d temperat#re of a "as$ 6re!ch chemist <oseph /ay%L#ssac refi!ed Charless law i! &;(8, a!d the law became 0!ow! also as /ay%L#ssacs law$ To"ether, Boyles law a!d Charless *or /ay%L#ssacs+ law ma0e #p the ideal "as law$ The ideal "as law states that the prod#ct of a "ass press#re *P+ a!d vol#me *V+ e=#als the prod#ct of the "ass temperat#re *T+ a!d a co!sta!t called the ideal "as co!sta!t *R+, for each mole *a certai! !#mber of atoms or molec#les+ of "as$ I! mathematical terms, the ideal "as law is PV = RT$