In an experiment to verify Boyle’s law, a student took the set of readings given in the table below - Leaving Cert Physics - Question 2 - 2013

The units for the quantities are:

• Volume (X): cubic meters (m³) or liters (L).
• Pressure (Y): pascals (Pa) or atmospheres (atm).

The apparatus used for the experiment includes:

• A gas container to hold the gas.
• A pressure gauge to measure the pressure.
• A piston or adjustable apparatus for changing the volume of gas.
• The diagram should label each part clearly.

1. Change the volume of the gas by adjusting the piston in the container.
2. Measure the pressure using the pressure gauge at different volumes.
3. Record the corresponding pressure and volume values in a table.
4. Repeat the measurements to ensure accuracy.

To graph the data:

1. Plot volume (X) on the x-axis and pressure (Y) on the y-axis.
2. Ensure all points are plotted correctly, reflecting the volume-pressure pairs from the table.
3. Draw a straight line through the plotted points indicating the relationship.

Boyle's law states that at constant temperature, the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume. The graph should display a downward slope, indicating that as the volume increases, the pressure decreases. This confirms that:

$P imes V = k$ where k is a constant. The linear relationship shows that pressure is inversely proportional to volume, verifying Boyle's law.