Syringe, ring stand and clamp, books, kg balance, rulers, computer graphing program. The object is to represent that relationship by a simple straight line, and from that line, describe the mathematical relationship that exists.
Students first collect pressure-volume data with books and a syringe apparatus.
In order to add on the atmospheric pressure to the book pressure, they must convert their book pressure to a force in Newtons. By finding the area of the syringe, they are able to convert that force to pressure in kilopascals. They are then asked to do a log pressure versus log volume plot on the computer, the slope describing the kind of relationship that exists. Next, they are asked to design a plot that will give them a straight line and from that line, state a simple mathematical relationship. The last activity shows them that indeed, the slope of that line is the pressure volume constant.