Question

A can of coke contains 25 mL of carbon dioxide gas at 100kPa. If you take it on a hike up Mount Everest and the pressure decreases to 50 kPa, what will the new volume of the carbon dioxide gas in your coke can be?

Answer 1

50 mL

Step-by-step explanation:

We can solve this problem by using Boyle's Law, which states that:

"For a fixed mass of an ideal gas kept at constant temperature, the pressure of the gas is inversely proportional to its volume"

Mathematically:

`p\propto (1)/(V)`

where

p is the pressure of the gas

V is the volume of the gas

The equation can be rewritten as

`p_1 V_1 = p_2 V_2`

where in this problem:

`p_1 = 100 kPa` is the initial pressure of the gas in the coke

`V_1=25 mL` is the initial volume

`p_2=50 kPa` is the final pressure

Solving for V2, we find the final volume:

`V_2=(p_1 V_1)/(p_2)=((100)(25))/(50)=50 mL`