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Which statement below best describes an inversely proportional relationship?

A. Temperature and volume both increase
B. Pressures increases but volume decreases
C. Moles of a gas and volume both decrease
D. Temperature is held constant but pressure tripled

User Magnum
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

An inversely proportional relationship is best described by the phenomenon where pressure increases and volume decreases, in accordance with Boyle's Law, illustrating that pressure and volume are inversely related at a constant temperature.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that best describes an inversely proportional relationship is that pressure increases but volume decreases. This relationship is well captured by Boyle's Law, which states that at a constant temperature, pressure and volume are inversely proportional to each other. As a result, if we increase pressure, we observe that volume correspondingly decreases, and vice versa.

As seventeenth-century scientists discovered, if the temperature of the gas is held constant, and when the pressure on the gas is increased, the volume will decrease to maintain a constant number of moles of gas. Mathematically, this can be expressed as P⋅V = k, where P is pressure, V is volume, and k is a constant. Thus, the correct answer to our question is that when pressure increases but volume decreases, the relationship is one of inverse proportionality.

User Raymond Lagonda
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