Introduction
Boyle's Law
What Is a Mole
If
Then V= k / P or VP = k ( for a constant T and n)
The atmosphere in which we live is vital to life on earth. It acts as both a source of raw materials and a means of waste disposal for almost every form of life on the planet's surface. The constant interchange between the atmosphere, soil, water bodies, and the living organisms on Earth keep the planet's ecosphere in balance. This balanced regulated state is maintained through a series of cycles which move resources from one living organism to another by use of solar energy and materials found in the land, sea, and air. Without these cycles, the system would lose its ability to maintain the homeostasis and the entire ecosystem would soon run down. By introducing synthetic chemicals into our environment, humans have unintentionally upset nature's balance. If we are not careful, the system may be pushed too far and so not be able to recover. If this happens, the delicate balance which the Earth has been able to maintain would be lost, perhaps, making human life no longer possible.
The following pages will present a case study concerning the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer by chlroflouorocarbons (CFCs). The first portion of the case study focuses on basic chemical principles which are necessary to understand the CFC story. Later, many other elements, such as the economics and politics surrounding the spread and eventual ban of CFCs, will be incorporated into the narrative to provide a complete and balanced view of the stratospheric ozone layer depletion story.
In the fifteenth century, Leonardo DeVinci realized that the air he breathed was comprised of more than one gas. He also noted that one of these gasses must be responsible for combustion. At that time, the science of chemistry was in its infancy. Scientists today know that the gas DeVinci was speaking of was oxygen.
Two hundred years later, many scientists were working to explain nature. Though chemistry had not yet become a full-fledged science, at this time, many new discoveries were being made. Many different problems confronted the scientists. All worked to delineate the constituents of the world around them while quantifying these constituents' interactions.
An important early discovery was made by Robert Boyle. It concerned how gasses act when placed under stress while holding certain variables constant. While designing vacuum pumps to remove air from vessels, he noticed something that seems quite intuitive and obvious today. If you have squeezed a sealed bag of air or a balloon, you may have noticed that it seems to push back the more you compress it. Boyle labeled this resistance, " the spring of the air" and found that he could measure it. After many experiments, Boyle saw a correlation between several of the variables. He operationalized these correlations into the law which bears his name. Boyle's law states that, for a given number of moles of gas molecules, the pressure is inversely proportional to the volume if the temperature is held constant.
Boyle' law can be expressed in a formula as follows:
P = pressure
V= Volume
T = Temperature
n = Number of moles of gas
k = constant of proportionality
F or comparing the same gas sample at constant temperature under differing conditions of volume and pressure, Boyle's law can be written as follows
P1 V1 = P2V2
The subscripts 1 and 2 represent the different conditions
An Example of Boyle's Law
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