Boyle’s Law, named after the physicist Robert Boyle, expresses the relationship between the pressure and volume of a gas at constant temperature. It states that the pressure of a gas is inversely proportional to its volume when the temperature is held constant. This means that as the volume of a gas decreases, its pressure increases, and vice versa.
Mathematically, Boyle’s Law can be represented by the equation:
P × V = k
Here, P represents the pressure of the gas, V represents its volume, and k is a constant for a given amount of gas at a fixed temperature. In simpler terms, if you compress a gas (reducing its volume), the molecules are forced closer together, which leads to an increase in pressure. Conversely, if you allow a gas to expand (increasing its volume), the pressure decreases because the molecules are more spread out.
This relationship is crucial in various applications, ranging from engineering to meteorology, as it helps us understand how gases behave under different conditions.