Question

A group of air particles in a balloon are spread far apart and moving rapidly around inside the balloon. The balloon is placed in a refrigerator for 30 minutes. What would you expect to happen to the appearance of the balloon? Explain your answer in terms of particle movement and their change in temperature. The balloon is removed from the refrigerator and placed on the kitchen counter. What would you expect to happen to the appearance of the balloon? Explain your answer in terms of particle movement and their change in temperature.

Answer 1

Answer:

1) The balloon will shrink

2) The balloon will grow bigger and regain its shape

Explanation:

By the kinetic theory of gases, we have;

$v_{rms} = \sqrt{\dfrac{3 \cdot R \cdot T}{MW} }$

$P = \dfrac{n \cdot MW \cdot vrms^2}{3 \cdot V}$

Where;

$v_{rms}$ = RMS Speed

R = The universal gas constant

T = The temperature

MW = The Molecular weight

n = The number of moles

V = The volume

P = The pressure

1) When the balloon is placed in the refrigerator for  minutes, the temperature inside the balloon will drop and RMS speed will reduce, however due to the elastic wall of the balloon, the pressure will remain the same therefore the volume  will reduce and the balloon will shrink

2) When the balloon is placed on the kitchen counter, the temperature inside the balloon will rise leading to the increase in the RMS speed which will raise the pressure effect on the wall  of the balloon as the balloon is made of elastic material, as the pressure rises, the wall expands to keep the pressure constant and the volume occupied by the air particles will increase, the balloon will grow bigger and regain its shape.