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Encyclopedia > Boyle's Law

Boyle's law (sometimes referred to as the Boyle-Mariotte law) is one of the gas laws and basis of derivation for the ideal gas law, which describes the relationship between the product pressure and volume within a closed system as constant when temperature and moles remain at a fixed measure; both entities remain inversely proportional.[1][2] The law was named after chemist and physicist, Robert Boyle who published the original law in 1662. The law itself can be defined succinctly as follows: The gas laws are a set of laws that describe the relationship between thermodynamic temperature (T), pressure (P) and volume (V) of gases. ... Isotherms of an ideal gas The ideal gas law is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas, first stated by BenoÃ®t Paul Ã‰mile Clapeyron in 1834. ... This article is about pressure in the physical sciences. ... For other uses, see Volume (disambiguation). ... In thermodynamics, a closed system, as contrasted with an isolated system, can exchange heat and work, but not matter, with its surroundings. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with physician, a person who practices medicine. ... Robert Boyle (Irish: Robaird Ã“ Bhaoill) (25 January 1627 â€“ 30 December 1691) was an Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ...

 “ For a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, P and V are inversely proportional (while one increases, the other decreases).[2] ”

## Contents

Boyle's Law is named after the Irish natural philosopher Robert Boyle (Lismore, County Waterford, 1627-1691) who was the first to publish it in 1662. The relationship between pressure and volume was brought to the attention of Boyle by two friends and amateur scientists, Richard Towneley and Henry Power, who discovered it. Boyle confirmed their discovery through experiments and published the results. According to Robert Gunther and other authorities, Boyle's assistant Robert Hooke, who built the experimental apparatus, may well have helped to quantify the law; Hooke was accounted a more able mathematician than Boyle. Hooke also developed the improved vacuum pumps necessary for the experiments. The French physicist Edme Mariotte (1620-1684) discovered the same law independently of Boyle in 1676, so this law may be referred to as Mariotte's or the Boyle-Mariotte law. The 1698 Savery Engine - the worlds first engine built by Thomas Savery as based on the designs of Denis Papin. ... Robert Boyle (Irish: Robaird Ã“ Bhaoill) (25 January 1627 â€“ 30 December 1691) was an Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and early gentleman scientist, noted for his work in physics and chemistry. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ... County Waterford (Port Láirge in Irish) is a county in the province of Munster on the south coast of Ireland. ... Robert T. Gunther (23 August 1869 â€“ 9 March 1940), historian of science and founder of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. ... Robert Hooke, FRS (July 18, 1635 â€“ March 3, 1703) was an English polymath who played an important role in the scientific revolution, through both experimental and theoretical work. ... Edme Mariotte (c. ...

## Definition

### Relation to kinetic theory and ideal gases

Boyle's law states that the volume of a gas increases when the pressure decreases at a constant temperature. Also it is the most fundamental of the 23 gas laws. The law was not likely to have deviations at the time of publication due to limits upon technology, but as further technological advances occurred limitations of the approach would have become known, as Boyle's law relates more effectively to real gases[3] due to its description of such gases consisting of large numbers of particles moving independently of each other.[3] An ideal gas (also called a perfect gas) is a hypothetical fluid consisting of particles that are identical to each other, occupy negligible volume and undergo perfect elastic collisions with each other, with no intermolecular forces and no intramolecular storage of energy, as opposed to a real gas, a gas...

In 1738, Daniel Bernoulli derived Boyle's law using Newton's laws of motion with application on a molecular level, but remained ignored until c. 1845, when John Waterston published a paper building the main precepts of kinetic theory, but was rejected by the Royal Society of England until the later works of James Prescott Joule, Rudolf Clausius and Ludwig Boltzmann firmly established the kinetic theory of gases and brought attention to both the theories of Bernoulli and Waterston.[4] Daniel Bernoulli Daniel Bernoulli (February 8, 1700 â€“ March 17, 1782) was a Dutch-born mathematician who spent much of his life in Basel, Switzerland where he died. ... Newtons First and Second laws, in Latin, from the original 1687 edition of the Principia Mathematica. ... John James Waterston (1811 - June 18, 1883) was a Scottish physicist, a neglected pioneer of the kinetic theory of gases. ... The premises of The Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ... James Prescott Joule, FRS (IPA: ; December 24, 1818 â€“ October 11, 1889) was an English physicist (and brewer), born in Salford, Lancashire. ... Rudolf Clausius - physicist and mathematician Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius (January 2, 1822 â€“ August 24, 1888), was a German physicist and mathematician. ... Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (Vienna, Austrian Empire, February 20, 1844 â€“ Duino near Trieste, September 5, 1906) was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. ... The kinetic theory of gases is a theory that explains the macroscopic properties of gases by consideration of their composition at a molecular level. ...

The ongoing debate between proponents of Energetics and Atomism led Boltzmann to write a book in 1898, which endured criticism up to his suicide in 1901.[4] Albert Einstein in 1905 showed how kinetic theory applied to the Brownian motion of a fluid-suspended particle, which was confirmed in 1908 by Jean Perrin.[4] From these perspectives upon kinetic theory, the derivation of Boyle's Law can be achieved through its assumptions. Energetics is the scientific study of energy flows under transformation. ... Concern has been expressed that this article or section is missing information about: discussions of existence of atoms among prominent physicists up to the end of 19th century. ... â€œEinsteinâ€ redirects here. ... Three different views of Brownian motion, with 32 steps, 256 steps, and 2048 steps denoted by progressively lighter colors. ... Jean Baptiste Perrin, generally known as Jean Perrin (Lille, September 30, 1870 – April 17, New York, 1942), was a French physicist. ...

### Equation

The mathematical equation for Boyle's law is:

$qquadqquad PV = k$

where:

P denotes the pressure of the system.
V is the volume of the gas.
k is a constant value representative of the pressure and volume of the system.

So long as temperature remains constant at the same value the same amount of energy given to the system persists throughout its operation and therefore, theoretically, the value of k will remain constant. However, due to the derivation of pressure as perpendicular applied force and the probabilistic likelihood of collisions with other particles through collision theory, the application of force to a surface may not be infinitely constant for such values of k, but will have a limit when differentiating such values over a given time. For other uses, see Volume (disambiguation). ... Collision theory is a theory, proposed by Max Trautz and William Lewis in 1916 that qualitatively explains how chemical reactions occur and why reaction rates differ for different reactions. ... Wikibooks Calculus has a page on the topic of Limits In mathematics, the concept of a limit is used to describe the behavior of a function as its argument either gets close to some point, or as it becomes arbitrarily large; or the behavior of a sequences elements as... Differential calculus is the theory of and computations with differentials; see also derivative and calculus. ...

Forcing the volume V of the fixed quantity of gas to increase, keeping the gas at the initially measured temperature, the pressure p must decrease proportionally. Conversely, reducing the volume of the gas increases the pressure.

Boyle's law is commonly used to predict the result of introducing a change, in volume and pressure only, to the initial state of a fixed quantity of gas. The "before" and "after" volumes and pressures of the fixed amount of gas, where the "before" and "after" temperatures are the same (heating or cooling will be required to meet this condition), are related by the equation:

$p_1 V_1 = p_2 V_2 ,$

Boyle's law, Charles' law, and Gay-Lussac's Law form the combined gas law. The three gas laws in combination with Avogadro's law can be generalized by the ideal gas law. Charless law (sometimes called the Law of Charles and Gay-Lussac) is one of the gas laws; it relates the volume and temperature of an ideal gas held at a constant pressure. ... Gay-Lussacs law is one of two laws named after the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, which relate to the properties of gases and are known by the same name. ... The ideal gas law or equation is the equation of state of an ideal gas. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Isotherms of an ideal gas The ideal gas law is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas, first stated by BenoÃ®t Paul Ã‰mile Clapeyron in 1834. ...

In science, there are a specific number of established scientific laws, or physical laws as they are sometimes called, that are considered absolute and inarguable facts of the physical world. ... This is a list of scientific laws named after people (eponymous laws). ...

## References

1. ^ Levine, Ira. N (1978). "Physical Chemistry" University of Brooklyn: McGraw-Hill Publishing
2. ^ a b Levine, Ira. N. (1978), p12 gives the original definition.
3. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named levine_2
4. ^ a b c Levine, Ira. N. (1978), p400 -- Historical background of Boyle's law relation to Kinetic Theory

Results from FactBites:

 Boyle's Law .. Animated (334 words) Careful, scientific observation has determined that these variables are related to one another, and the values of these properties determine the state of the gas. In the mid 1600's, Robert Boyle studied the relationship between the pressure p and the volume V of a confined gas held at a constant temperature. This relationship between pressure and volume is called Boyle's Law in his honor.
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