Introduction

You have probably opened a soda before and had the liquid fizz right up out of the bottle, creating a huge mess.
Why does that happen? It has to do with the carbon dioxide gas that is added to the liquid to make it fizzy. Opening the
bottle releases the built-up pressure inside, causing the gas-liquid mixture to rush out the bottle. In this activity you will
demonstrate—with the help of air- and water-filled balloons—how a gas changes volume depending on its pressure.

Background
The difference between solids, liquids and gases is how the particles (molecules or atoms) behave. Particles in
solids are usually tightly packed in a regular pattern. Although the particles in a liquid are also close together, they are
able to move freely. Gas particles, however, are widely spread out and occupy lots of space. They continue to spread to
any space that is available. This means that in contrast to liquids and solids, the volume of a gas is not fixed. Robert
Boyle, a chemist and physicist from the 17th century, discovered that the volume of gas, meaning how much space it
occupies, is related to its pressure—and vice versa. He found that if you pressurize a gas, its volume contracts. If you
decrease its pressure, its volume increases.

You can observe a real-life application of Boyle's Law when you fill your bike tires with air. When you pump air
into a tire, the gas molecules inside the tire get compressed and packed closer together. This increases the pressure of
the gas, and it starts to push against the walls of the tire. You can feel how the tire becomes pressurized and tighter.
Another example is a soda bottle. To get carbon dioxide gas into the liquid, the whole bottle is usually pressurized with
gas. As long as the bottle is closed, it is very hard to squeeze, as the gas is confined to a small space and pushes
against the bottle's walls. When you remove the cap, however, the available volume increases and some of the gas
escapes. At the same time its pressure decreases.

One important demonstration of Boyle's law is our own breathing. Inhaling and exhaling basically means
increasing and decreasing the volume of our chest cavity. This creates low pressure and high pressure in our lungs,
resulting in air getting sucked into our lungs and leaving our lungs.

In this activity you will create your own demonstration of Boyle's law.
Materials
 At least two small balloons such as water balloons
 Large plastic syringe (approximately 60 milliliters works well), such as a children's oral medicine syringe
(available at most drug stores). Ensure that it is airtight and does not have a needle.
 Scissors
 Water

Preparation
 Use the syringe to fill one balloon with a little bit of air—so that the balloon will still fit inside of the syringe. Tie
off the balloon and trim any extra balloon material beyond the knot.
 Fill the syringe with water.
 Use the syringe to fill another balloon with some of the water, making it the same size as the air-filled balloon.
Tie its opening with a knot, and trim any remaining material after the knot.
 Remove the plunger from the syringe so that it is open on the large end.

Procedure
 Place the air-filled balloon just inside the large opening at the back of the syringe. Insert the plunger into the
syringe, and try to push the balloon into the tip of the syringe.

How hard is it to push the plunger in?

The air-filled balloon inside the syringe could produce resistance as the plunger is pushed in. It may be difficult
to push the plunger in.
What happens to the air inside the syringe?
The syringe's internal air volume will decrease as the plunger is pushed, increasing the pressure inside.
Additionally compressing the balloon's air will make the plunger harder to move.

 Pull the plunger back again, and move the balloon into the middle of the syringe. Then close the front opening
(the tip) of the syringe with one finger, and push the plunger into the syringe again.

What do you notice?

When you close the front opening of the syringe with one finger and push it again the balloon shrinks.
How does the balloon look or change when you push the plunger in?
The balloon changes its size when we push the plunger in because as the pressure increases it reduce its
volume.

 Release your finger from the tip of the syringe. Place the balloon into the tip of the syringe, and push the
plunger into the syringe until it touches the balloon. Then close the tip of the syringe with your finger and pull the
plunger all the way back.

Does the balloon shape change? If yes, how? Can you explain why?
When the plunger is pressed into the syringe, the internal volume of the syringe decreases, leading to the
compression of the air in the balloon and resulting in the deflation of the balloon.

 Replace the air-filled balloon inside the syringe with the water-filled balloon. Then place the plunger into the
syringe. Close the tip of the syringe with your finger, and push the plunger into the syringe as far as you can.

How does the balloon change this time?

If you substitute the air-filled balloon with a water-filled balloon in the syringe and push the plunger, the water-
filled balloon will react differently. Unlike air, water is not easily compressed. When the plunger is pushed, the
water inside the balloon resists compression, leading to increased resistance. Instead of deflating like an air-
filled balloon, the water may be removed from the balloon, causing it to stretch or change shape.

 Release your finger from the tip of the syringe, and push the plunger all the way into the syringe until it touches
the balloon at the tip of the syringe. Then close the tip of the syringe again with your finger, and try to pull the
plunger back as far as you can.

What happens to the water-filled balloon?

When you release your finger from the tip of the syringe and push the plunger all the way into the syringe until it
touches the water-filled balloon, and then close the tip of the syringe again with your finger and try to pull the
plunger back, you might run into more resistance. Because the water inside the balloon is difficult to compress,
it could be difficult to force the water back into the syringe when you try to pull the plunger back.

Does it behave differently than the air-filled balloon? If yes, how and why?
Yes, when the syringe is used as described, the water-filled balloon acts differently from the air-filled balloon.

Water is not as easily compressed as air is. The water within the balloon expands to resist compression when
the plunger is pushed, increasing resistance. The water in the syringe resists being sucked back into it as you
attempt to pull the plunger back, giving you more resistance than with an air-filled balloon.

On the other hand, because air is so compressible, the air-filled balloon collapses readily when the plunger is
pressed. The balloon can easily return to its initial shape when the plunger is pulled back because the air
expands.

 Extra: Use the same setup, but this time add water to your syringe in addition to the air-filled and water-filled
balloons. Then close the tip of the syringe and try to press the plunger into the syringe and pull it out again.

What happens this time?

 This time air filled balloon with the water filed balloon inside the syringe, the water filled balloon still resist
compression like the same set-up while air filled balloon it will be easily to compressed and it expands when
you pushed the plunger being hard to push because of the compression and expanding of the balloons.
How does the water inside the syringe make a difference?
There will be an impact on the syringe's water as well as you press the plunger, the water will be compressed to
and have resistance. The water will attempt to fill the gap when you pull the plunger back, and because water is
incompressible, there may be some resistance.

PART 2:

1. Add about 10mL of water to a 50mL Erlenmeyer flask. Place a small balloon over the opening of the flask and place
the flask on the hot plate (hot plate should be set to 8) until the water boils. When the balloon performs its trick, remove
it soon after so that you don’t get scalded with hot water!

a. Observe and record what you see.

b. What happens to the balloon?
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c. Circle the variables you are dealing with: temperature, pressure, volume
d. Complete this: As ____________________ increases, ________________ increases.
e. The relationship between these variables is ___________________ (direct, inverse)

2. Place a marshmallow in a syringe. Push and pull the syringe and observe what happens to the marshmallow.
a. When I push the syringe, the marshmallow ____________________.
b. When I pull the syringe, the marshmallow _____________________.
c. Circle the variables you are dealing with: temperature, pressure, volume
d. Complete this: As ___________________increases, __________________decreases.
e. The relationship between these variables is ____________________(direct, inverse)

GENERALIZATION AND CONCLUSION:

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 PART 3: Balloon in Hot and Cold Water – Experiment

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

French physicist Jacques Charles (1746-1823) studied the effect of temperature on the volume of a gas at
constant pressure. Charles's Law states that the volume of a given mass of gas varies directly with the absolute
temperature of the gas when pressure is kept constant. The absolute temperature is temperature measured with the
Kelvin scale. The Kelvin scale must be used because zero on the Kelvin scale corresponds to a complete stoppage of
molecular motion.
Freshly-baked bread is light and fluffy as a result of the action of yeast on sugar. The yeast converts the sugar
to carbon dioxide, which at high temperatures causes the dough to expand. The end result is an enjoyable treat,
especially when covered with melted butter.

HYPOTHESIS
 The volume of air changes based on the temperature surrounding it.
 Air expands or contracts based on increase or decrease in surrounding temperature.

MATERIALS:
 Two plastic/ glass container (bottles)
 Balloons
 Hot Water
 Ice cubes as a cold-water source
 Containers to place hot and cold water

PROCEDURES:

1. Take a glass container and add cold water. Then, add few ice cubes to it to keep it cold.
2. Pick another glass container and add some amount of hot water into it. Ensure the hot water’s hotness need not
to be sizzling.
3. Bring our Balloon over the neck or mouth of the crystal-clear plastic bottle in an upside-down position. And fix
the mouth of the Balloon to the mouth of the bottle.

Make sure the bottle is empty before you attach the Balloon to it.

Repeat the same method and prepare another set of water bottle and Balloon using the other empty bottle.

4. In this step, keep the balloon attached bottle inside the container, which consists of hot water. Let the bottle sit
in hot water for some time.

OBSERVATIONS:
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5. Bring the same and another set of water bottle into the container which consists of cold water. And allow it to sit
for some time to see the results.

OBSERVATIONS:
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 PART 4: Charles's Law and Can Crush

Objective: To demonstrate the effect of temperature change on the volume of a gas and observe the can crush
phenomenon.

Materials:
 Empty aluminum soda can
 Bunsen burner or stove
 Tongs or heat-resistant gloves
 Water
 Bowl or container

Procedure:

1. Fill the bowl or container with water.

2. Fill the aluminum can with a small amount of water (about 1 cm or 1/2 inch).
3. Heat the can over a Bunsen burner or stove until the water inside starts boiling.
4. Quickly invert the can and submerge it upside-down in the water.
5. Observe the can crush as it cools down.

OBSERVATIONS:
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GENERALIZATION AND CONCLUSION:

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