Boyle's Law

Boyle’s law is one of the gas laws used in scuba diving. Named after Irish philosopher Robert Boyle, it refers to the relationship between pressure and volume as it pertains to a divers ability to stay under water for a specific amount of time. Boyle’s law is commonly used to predict the result of change, in volume and pressure only, then to the initial state of a fixed volume of gas. For example, if a temperature remains constant, then the volume of a particular mass of gas is there for proportional to the absolute pressure, this theory is what Boyle’s law is based on.

Boyle’s law labs use spread sheets to analyze the gas pressure and volume data. In order to accomplish the Boyle’s law demonstrations. The information from the spread sheets is give to graphically show Boyle’s law and determine the amount of gas present.
Boyle’s law apparatus is a piece of equipment used to explore the elastic properties and the volume/pressure relationship of air and other gases. To assist with learning the experiments and calculations associated with the principles of Boyle’s laws, a study guide is enclosed with the apparatus.

In more scientific terms Boyle’s law refers to the mathematical equation of: PV=K. For the purpose of this P is the pressure of the gas, V is the volume of the gas, K is a constant with units of force time distance.

The human body is accustomed to a certain amount of pressure, but because the body is made up of mostly liquid, and liquid is non compressible, the pressure is not felt. However, when traveling in a plane or driving in the mountains that pressure can be felt in the ears, because ears have air in them and that air, unlike liquid is compressible.

An example of this theory is suing a balloon. Filling a balloon to a certain diameter on top of the water may measure at one cubic foot. By putting the balloon underwater, the pressure begins to decrease and the balloon will begin to decrease because the air in the balloon is compressed, when it is brought to the surface again it will return to the original size.

Another part of this theory is density, which is how close the air molecules are together. When the object is put underwater the volume is reduced, however, the density will increase due to the pressure bringing molecules closer together.