Final answer:
The volume of air in a syringe decreases when the plunger is pushed in, illustrating the principle of Boyle's Law. This shows that air is compressible and adaptable, taking the shape of its container within the constraints of the syringe.
Step-by-step explanation:
When you push the plunger in a syringe, the volume of the samples decreases. This is a direct demonstration of Boyle's Law, which states that volume and pressure are inversely proportional in a gas at constant temperature. If we consider the air in a syringe, when the volume is decreased by pushing the plunger in, the pressure inside the syringe increases. Conversely, when the plunger is pulled out, the volume increases and the pressure decreases.
Based on the results for the volume of air, we might conclude that the shape of air in the syringe is not fixed or rigid. Since air takes the shape of its container, when the volume of the syringe decreases, the air adapts to the new volume by increasing its pressure, maintaining the same amount of matter in a smaller space.
For example, if the initial volume V₁ was compressed to a final volume V₂, and the pressure consequently increased, this implies air is compressible and occupies the shape of its container. The amount of change in volume can be represented as volume change V₂ - V₁, demonstrating the flexibility of the air's shape within the syringe.