Question

On hot days, you may have noticed that potato chip bags seem to "inflate", even though they have not been opened. If I have a 250 mL bag at a temperature of 19C, and I leave it in my car which has a temperature of 60C, what will the new volume of the bag be? (round your answer to the nearest tenth)

Answer 1

The new volume of the bag will be 789.5 mL.

Explanation:

As per the Charles law, at constant pressure the volume of the gas is directly related to its temperature in Kelvin (K). That is as the temperature increases, the gas expands and vice-versa.

$\frac{V1}{T1} = \frac{V2}{T2}$

V1 = 250 ml

V2 = ?

T1 = 19° C

T2 = 60° C

Now we have to rewrite the equation to get the new volume as,

V2 = $\frac{V1T2}{T1}$

    =$\frac{250\times60}{19}$

    = 789.47 ≈ 789.5 ml.

So the new volume of the bag will be 789.5 mL.