Boyle’s Law

By Samar Bhatia

Boyle’s Law (Mariotte’s law in France) states that when the temperature and mass of a confined gas is constant, the product and volume of the gas is also constant.

We can compare the substance with two set’s using the following formulae:

p1v1 = p2v2

This show’s that as the volume of the substance increases the pressure decreases proportionally. Mathematically we can write the Boyle’s Law as:

.PV = k

Where when the pressure multiplied with volume equals constant k.

The pressure and volume relation was first noted by Richard Townley and Henry Power and their theory was later confirmed by Robert Boyle. His assistant, Robert Hooke built the apparatus which was used to test the relation between pressure and volume.

Boyle’s experiment was a test on air, which he said was a fluid of particles at rest in between invisible springs. Boyle had begun experimenting with air as an interest but later it turned into an essential part of life.

The French physicist, Madam Edme Mariotte discovered that air volume changes with temperature and this discovery was made before Boyle published his version of this theory.

Later, in 1687 Newton showed mathematically that in an elastic fluid consisting of particles at rest, repulsive forces are inversely proportional to their distance, and the density would be directly proportional to the pressure.

Boyle’s law is also used for explaining the respiratory system, which shows how the volume of the lungs increases or decreases and thereby causes a higher or lower air pressure within them.