Discovered by Irish chemist Robert Boyle (1627-1691) in 1662, Boyle's law gives the relationship between pressure and volume of gas if temperature and amount remain constant. If the volume in liters, V, of a container is increased, the pressure in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), P, decreases. If the volume of a container is decreased, the pressure increases. One way to write this rule mathematically is P = kV - 1, where k is a constant.
a. Show that this formula is equivalent to PV = k.
b. If a gas occupies 12.3 L at a pressure of 40.0 mm Hg, find the constant, k.
c. What is the volume of the gas in 13b when the pressure is increased to 60.0 mm Hg?
d. If the volume of the gas in 13b is 15 L, what would the pressure be?