Passage II

When a force is applied to a gas confined in a container, the gas is compressed into a smaller volume. The pressure, P, exerted on the gas is equal to the applied force, F, divided by the area, A, of the surface on which the force acts, as shown in the equation:

P = FA

For a fixed amount of gas at constant temperature, the product of pressure and volume remains constant. This relationship can be expressed as:

P₁V₁ = P₂V₂

To investigate how externally applied forces influence the volume of trapped air, researchers performed two experiments that added mass to a gas syringe and measured the volume. The setup included a sealed syringe mounted vertically, a platform attached to the plunger for holding masses, and a scale on the syringe barrel to measure volume (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Experiment 1

A syringe with a plunger of cross-sectional area 2.0 cm² was sealed at the tip. The plunger was positioned so that the trapped air had an initial volume of 50.0 mL at atmospheric pressure (101 kPa). Masses were added to the platform in increments, and the new volume was recorded after each addition. Table 1 shows the results.

Experiment 2

The procedure from Experiment 1 was repeated using a different syringe with a plunger of cross-sectional area 4.0 cm². The same masses were added, and the volume was recorded. Table 2 shows the results.