Question

A person purchases a bag of potato chips that was sealed in San Francisco, CA where the elevation is 50 feet above sea level and the air pressure is 1 atmosphere. They board an unpressurized airplane with the bag of chips and fly to an altitude of 8,000 feet where the air pressure is 0.75 atmosphere. What do you predict will happen to the bag of chips? (Must be Thoroughly thoughted and explanation)" I will Give Brainiest"

Answer 1

Hello, I Am BrotherEye

Answer:

As the atmospheric pressure decreases with increase in altitude, when a sealed bag of chips is taken to higher altitude then the pressure of the gases inside the bag become greater than the outer atmospheric pressure and apply pressure on the side covering of the chips bag due to which the chips bag expand.

Explanation:

Atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude. Let's assume you tie up a bag at sea level altitude (with little air inside). That air inside the bag is at 1atm as long as you're at sea level.

Now you start going up, your altitude increases and atmospheric pressure decreases (remember what I said in the beginning about atmospheric pressure decreasing with increasing altitude?).

Let's say you reach an altitude where the atmospheric pressure is 0.5atm, the force acting inside the bag which is pushing it outward is now greater than the force acting on it which is pushing it inward (1atm>0.5atm). As a result, the air inside the bag will push the sides of the bag outward, thus inflating it to a point where the pressure inside the bag becomes 0.5atm or the bag stops stretching.

For the same reason, if you bring the same bag down and take it too deep into the earth (at an altitude lower than sea level) or if you inflate the bag at a very high altitude and bring it down to sea level, it will deflate.

Best Of Luck

~

BrotherEye