Question

A gas has a volume of 15 L, a temperature of 300 K, and an unknown initial pressure. Then, the gas expands to 30 L, remains at 300 K, and has a pressure of 300 kPa. What was the initial pressure of the gas?

Option 1: 150 kPa
Option 2: 300 kPa
Option 3: 600 kPa
Option 4: 900 kPa

Answer 1

Using Boyle's Law for constant temperature conditions, the initial pressure of the gas is found to be 600 kPa, which is Option 3.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the initial pressure of a gas when given a final pressure, volume, and the condition that the temperature remains constant, we can use the gas laws. Specifically, Boyle's Law, which states that at constant temperature, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume (P1V1 = P2V2).

In this case, the final volume is 30 L with a pressure of 300 kPa. Initially, the volume was 15 L. With the temperature constant at 300 K and using Boyle's Law, we can solve for the initial pressure:

P1V1 = P2V2
P1 * 15 L = 300 kPa * 30 L
P1 = (300 kPa * 30 L) / 15 L = 600 kPa

Therefore, the initial pressure of the gas was 600 kPa, which corresponds to Option 3.