LESSON Sorry, Charlie Name

6
Class r oom
Charles’s Law
Date Period

Purpose
To calculate changes in the volume of a gas as they relate to
temperature changes.

Questions
1. A Happy Birthday balloon is filled with three breaths of air. It has an initial volume,
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V1, of 400 mL at the initial temperature, T1, of 285 K. The air in the balloon is cooled
to 265 K and the volume decreases. Next, the air in the balloon is heated to 300 K and
the volume increases. Calculate the missing values for the birthday balloon.

V1 � 400 mL V2 � V3 �

T1 � 285 K T2 � 265 K T3 � 300 K

V V V
k � T1 � k � T 2 �1.4º mL/K k � T3 �1.4º mL/K
1 2 3

2. A New Year’s balloon is inflated with five breaths of air. It has an initial volume
of 600 mL at 285 K. It is heated to a temperature that changes the volume of air in
the balloon to 630 mL. Next the air in the balloon is cooled to 265 K. Calculate the
missing values for the New Year’s balloon.

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V1 � 600 mL V2 � 630 mL V3 �

T1 � 285 K T2 � T3 � 265 K
V V V
k � T1 � k � T2 � k � T3 �
1 2 3

3. The volume of a sample of gas is proportional to its temperature in kelvins but the
volume is not proportional to its temperature in degrees Celsius. Use data from
Question 1 to provide evidence to support this assertion.
T1 5 T2 5 T3 5

k 5 V1/T1 5 k 5 V2/T2 5 k 5 V3/T3 5

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218 Unit 3 Weather Living By Chemistry Teaching and Classroom Resources

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 4. Plot volume versus temperature in kelvins for the Happy Birthday balloon and the
New Year’s balloon on the graph. Label each line.
Volume Versus Temperature
1000

800

Volume (mL)
600

400

200

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Temperature (K)

5. Use the graph to find the approximate volume of the Happy Birthday balloon and the
New Year’s balloon at TCM_03_040
a temperature of 400 K.

6. Why do you suppose the Happy Birthday balloon has a different proportionality
constant, k, than the New Year’s balloon?

Problem Solving
(Remember to always convert temperatures to the Kelvin scale.)
1. The beginning volume of a gas is 500 mL at 20 °C. The temperature is raised to 35 °C.
What is the new volume of the gas?

2. Making Sense  Suppose you have a Valentine’s Day balloon with a volume of
300 mL at 300 K.
a. Is the proportionality constant larger or smaller than that for the birthday balloon?

b. At the same temperature, which balloon is smaller, the Valentine’s Day balloon or
the New Year’s balloon?

3. If You Finish Early  On the graph of volume versus temperature for a gas, what
does the slope of the line relate to?

Living By Chemistry Teaching and Classroom Resources Unit 3 Weather 219

© 2012 W. H. Freeman and Company/BFW Lesson 6 • Worksheet

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 1000
800
Birthday
balloon
Happy

Temperature (K)
600
Balloon Volume Versus Temperature

400
New Year’s
balloon

200
0
1000

800

600

400

200

Volume (mL)

220 Unit 3 Weather Living By Chemistry Teaching and Classroom Resources

Lesson 6 • Transparency TCM_03_044
© 2012 W. H. Freeman and Company/BFW

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