Properties of Matter

With a pressure sensor built into PocketLab, there must surely be some way to investigate Boyle's Law.  This law states that pressure and volume of an ideal gas are inversely proportional to one another provided that the temperature and amount of gas are kept constant within a closed system.  What is needed is a closed system that is large enough to hold PocketLab in a way that pressure can be sensed while changing the volume of the enclosed gas (in our case, air).

Gay-Lussac's Law states that when the volume of a container of gas is held constant, while the temperature of the gas is increased, then the pressure of the gas will also increase.  In other words, pressure is directly proportional to the absolute temperature for a given mass of gas at constant volume.  Although this is, strictly speaking, true only for an ideal gas, most gases that surround us behave much like an ideal gas.  Even ordinary air, which is a mixture of gases, can behave like an ideal gas.

Investigating Pressure and Volume with a Syringe

Exploration 

Explore air pressure and how it works. In a sealed syringe, as the plunger moves back and forth, the volume of air in the syringe changes. With a large enough syringe, a PocketLab can be placed inside to measure the change in pressure as the volume changes.

Exploration

When it is cold outside, it is often thought that fans aren’t needed. However, it may be that a fan can bring warm air near the ceiling down to floor level, increasing comfort without raising the thermostat. Energy could therefore be saved.

Objective

In this experiment, students will:
1) Determine how a ceiling fan affects the temperature in a room, both near the floor and near the ceiling.

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Exploration

Does closing blinds or curtains save energy? Often the blinds or curtains in a room are left open when it is cold outside, even when no one is using the room. Would closing them save energy?

Objective

In this experiment, students will:
1. Determine how to use curtains to save energy when it is cold outside.

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Exploration

What does it mean to change temperature? What is temperature? We know what it means to be hot or cold, but what does it mean when you measure the temperature of an item?

Objective

In this experiment, students will:
1. Understand how the temperature of the water is related to the movement (kinetic energy) of the water molecules.
2. Use observations to describe the principle of thermal expansion.

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Exploration

Barometric pressure is the pressure from the force or weight of air exerted on a surface. The PocketLab’s barometric pressure sensor measures the force of the air molecules that push against the sensor.

Objective

In this exploration, students will:
1. Use the barometer to measure the weight of different objects.
2. Observe how pressure (force) inside a plastic bag is affected when weight is added to the plastic bag.

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Exploration

After a change occurs, if the molecules of the chemicals involved do not change, it is only a physical change. Ice melting to water is an example of this. A change has occurred, but the H2 0 as ice, remains H2 0 as water. If however the molecules of the chemicals involved do change to form new chemicals, then a chemical change has occurred.

Exploration

Explore air pressure, temperature, and volume and how they work together. In a syringe sealed to an Erlenmeyer flask , when the syringe’s plunger moves back and forth, the volume of air in the syringe and f ask changes. Will the pressure also change if the temperature of the air sealed in the syringe and f ask changes? A PocketLab can be placed inside the Erlenmeyer f ask to measure the change in pressure as the the volume and temperature change. 

Objective

Exploration

The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system remains constant. Over time, all energy is conserved. It is neither created nor destroyed-instead it transfers from one form to another. When shaking a jar of sand, what happens to the temperature of the sand? Explore how this relates to the law of conservation of energy.

Objective