Verification of Boyle's law

When a fixed mass of gas (at constant temperature) is subjected to increased pressure the volume of the gas is reduced. In this experiment we investigate the relationship between pressure and volume.

Procedure:

  1. Press the "Pump" button until the pressure is at its maximum value.
  2. Wait for about one minute for the volume of gas to stabilise.
  3. Record the pressure and the volume readings.
  4. Press the "Release Pressure" button. The pressure will reduce by some random amount.
  5. Wait, and again record pressure and volume.
  6. Repeat until you have at least six readings. Repump if necessary

Results: Record the results in a table as shown below.
Pressure
Volume
1 / volume
     

Analysis:
Using graph paper, draw a graph of pressure (y-axis) against 1/volume. Note: Start both axes at zero.

Draw a "best fit" straight line. A straight line through the origin shows that pressure and volume are inversely proportional to each other.

Precautions:

  • Wait for temperature (and therefore volume) to stabalise after each pressure change before you read the volume
  • Have your eye level with the oil when taking volume readings to avoid parallax errors
  • Try to work in a room where the temperature remains constant throughout the experiment, otherwise volume varies.