Question 169397: The volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure on the gas. If the volume is 6 cubic centimeters when the pressure on the gas is 8 kilograms per square centimeter, then what is the volume when the pressure is 12 kilograms per square centimeters.
Help, thank you
Answer by gonzo(654)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website! direct proportion would be x = k*y
inverse proportion would be x = k/y
where k is a constant of proportionality.
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if the volume of gas is inversely proportional to the pressure on the gas, then if we let V = volume, P = pressure, and K = constant of proportionality, we have:
V = K/P
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if V = 6 cubic centimeters when the pressure on the gas is 8 kilograms per square centimeter, then the equation becomes:
6 = K/8
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if we solve for K, we get
K = 8*6 = 48
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equation becomes:
6 = 48/8 = 6 which is correct.
the constant of proportionality = K = 48.
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your question is:
what is the volume when the pressure is 12 kilograms per square centimeters.
using K = 48, we get:
V = 48/12 = 4 cubic centimeters.
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the pressure went from 8 to 12 which means it increased by a factor of 12/8 = 1.5
since volume and pressure are inversely proportional, you would expect that the volume decreased by the same factor.
6 / 1.5 = 4
it did.
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