Waqar Riaz

Boyle’s Law

The apparatus is designed to give clear readings.

Air is restrained in the tall, wide glass tube by a piston of oil as

you can see in the image on the left. The volume is found from
the length of the air column.

The pressure is read from a Bourdon gauge connected to the air

over the oil tank.

The foot pump is attached to the oil reservoir and is used to

change the pressure. The gauge reads up to 3 x 105 N/m-2 and
the pressure can safely be taken up to this value but must not be
taken beyond.

To fill the apparatus with oil, unscrew the Bourdon gauge with a
spanner and fill the chamber with low vapour pressure oil. Tilt
the apparatus in the final stage of filling in order to get enough
oil into the main tube. When fixing the gauge, tighten the nut to
get a good seal, but not so much that the thread is damaged.

Aim

Investigate the relationship between pressure and volume for a gas

Apparatus

Boyle’s law equipment

Bicycle pump

Method

1) The foot pump is attached to the oil reservoir and air is pumped into the tube until
the pressure is high as possible, then record the pressure and volume
2) Slowly release the volume until the pressure goes down slightly, then record the
pressure and volume
3) Repeat step 2, another 4 times and do the same for each, record the pressure
and volume
Waqar Riaz

Results

Pressure Volume 1/V m-3 PV(Nm)

X105 N/m2 X10-6m3
3.35 21 4.76x104 7.04
2.9 25 4x104 7.25
2.5 29 3.45x104 7.25
2.1 34 2.94x104 7.14
1.7 43 2.33x104 7.31
1.3 59 1.70x104 7.67

Theory

Boyle’s law states that at constant temperature for a fixed mass, the absolute pressure and the
volume of a gas are inversely proportional.

PV = K

Conclusion

I can see that PV is more or less a constant value. This shows that Boyle’s Law is true
because it states that the volume of a fixed mass of gas is inversely proportional to the
pressure of the gas. Therefore, if I plot a graph of p against 1/v and get a straight line
then that means that Boyle’s Law is correct, this does roughly happen.