Question

A weather balloon carries instruments that measure temperature, pressure, and humidity as it rises through the atmosphere. suppose such a balloon has a volume of 1.2 m3 at sea level where the pressure is 1 atm and the temperature is 20°c. when the balloon is at an altitude of 11 km (36,000 ft) the pressure is down to 0.5 atm and the temperature is about -55°c. what is the volume of the balloon then?

Answer 1

Using the combined gas law, the volume of the weather balloon at an altitude of 11 km, with a pressure of 0.5 atm and temperature of -55°C, can be calculated from its initial state at sea level.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves applying the ideal gas law to find the volume of a weather balloon when it reaches an altitude with different pressure and temperature conditions. Initially, the balloon has a volume of 1.2 m3 at sea level with a pressure of 1 atm and a temperature of 20°C. At an altitude of 11 km, the pressure decreases to 0.5 atm and the temperature drops to -55°C. To find the new volume of the balloon, we can use the combined gas law, which relates the pressure, volume, and temperature of a gas.

Given the initial conditions (P1=1 atm, V1=1.2 m3, and T1=293 K) and the final conditions (P2=0.5 atm and T2=218 K), the combined gas law equation V2 = (P1 * V1 * T2) / (P2 * T1) can be used to calculate the final volume V2. It's important to convert the Celsius temperatures to Kelvin by adding 273 to the Celsius value before performing the calculation.