Question

An ideal gas in a sealed container has an initial volume of 2.55 L. At constant pressure, it has cooled to 16.00 degrees Celcius where its final volume is 1.75 L. What was the initial temperature?

Answer 1

Use ideal gas law PV=nRT. The pressure, number of moles, and gas constant are unchanged. Rearrange ideal gas law to get n= PV1/RT1= PV2/RT2 now you can cancel out P and R to get V1/T1 = V2/T2 you know V1= 2.55 L, V2= 1.75 L, T2= 16 degC, you can solve for T1( the initial temperature).