High School Chemistry : Using Boyle's Law
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Using Boyle's Law
An ideal gas exerts a pressure of 
What will be the final pressure if the volume of the container changes to 
Since the volume of the gas is the only variable that has changed, we can use Boyle's law in order to find the final pressure. Since pressure and volume are on the same side of the ideal gas law, they are inversely proportional to one another. In other words, as one increases, the other will decrease, and vice versa.
Boyle's law can be written as follows:
Use the given volumes and the initial pressure to solve for the final pressure.
Example Question #1 : Using Boyle's Law
What law is the following formula?
Ideal gas law
Combined gas law
Boyle's law
Charles's law
Gay-Lussac's law
Boyle's law
Boyle's law relates the pressure and volume of a system, which are inversely proportional to one another. When the parameters of a system change, Boyle's law helps us anticipate the effect the changes have on pressure and volume.
Charles's law relates temperature and volume:
Gay-Lussac's law relates temperature and pressure:
The combined gas law takes Boyle's, Charles's, and Gay-Lussac's law and combines it into one law:
The ideal gas law relates temperature, pressure, volume, and moles in coordination with the ideal gas constant:
Example Question #1 : Using Boyle's Law
A helium balloon has a volume of 
To solve this question we will need to use Boyle's law:
We are given the final pressure and volume, along with the initial volume. Using these values, we can calculate the initial pressure.
Note that the pressure at sea level is equal to 
Example Question #1 : Using Boyle's Law
The graph depicted here represents which of the gas laws?
Boyle's law
Charles's law
Gay-Lussac's law
Hund's law
Boyle's law
The graph shows that there is an inverse relationship between the volume and pressure of a gas, when kept at a constant temperature. This was described by Robert Boyle and can be represented mathematically as Boyle's law:
Gay-Lussac's law shows the relationship between pressure and temperature. Charles's law shows the relationship between volume and temperature. Hund's rule (Hund's law) is not related to gases, and states that electron orbitals of an element will be filled with single electrons before any electrons will form pairs within a single orbital.
Example Question #2 : Using Boyle's Law
A sample of oxygen gas has a volume of 
To solve this question we will need to use Boyle's law:
We are given the initial pressure and volume, along with the final pressure. Using these values, we can calculate the final volume.
Example Question #5 : Using Boyle's Law
A gas is initially in a 5L piston with a pressure of 1atm.
If pressure changes to 3.5atm by moving the piston down, what is new volume?
Use Boyle's Law:
Plug in known values and solve for final volume.
Example Question #4 : Using Boyle's Law
A balloon of volume 
Use Boyle's law and plug in appropriate parameters:
Example Question #1 : Using Boyle's Law
A gas in a 
Boyle's Law is:
The initial volume (
Notice the answer has 3 significant figures.
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