My STEM Project

Our STEM project was what would happen if we put a balloon in a vacuum chamber? We learned that if you take out the air in a vacuum chamber the volume increases and the pressure decreases. If a balloon is out in the vacuum chamber the balloon will expand because there will be less pressure. Here is a video of our project.

What happens if you put balloons in a vacuum chamber?

Why do the balloons expand inside the vacuum chamber?

This happens because of Boyle's law which includes pressure,temperature, and volume.

In a vacuum chamber gases get taken

out. When the air gets taken out the pressure decreases. This can be explained with Boyle's Law. Boyle's Law states that when pressure decreases volume increases and vice versa.

Now what does this have to do with a balloon you ask? Well if we put a balloon in a vacuum chamber the only gases trapped inside are the gases in the balloon and in the chamber. When turning on the vacuum all the air will get taken out thus decreasing the pressure and increasing the volume. When the gases inside a balloon gets taken out the balloon will expand because there is a lot less pressure.

Materials:

Thermometer

Vacuum Chamber

Balloons

Scientific Principle

The absolute pressure exerted by a given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to the volume it occupies if the temperature and amount of gas remain unchanged within a closed system is Boyle's Law.

In order to find the absolute pressure exerted use the following equation:

P₁+V₁=P₂+V₂

P_{1=The first pressure given}

V_{1=The first volume given}

P_{2=The second volume given}

V_{2=The second volume given}

SAFETY

DO NOT CONDUCT EXPERIMENT WITHOUT AN ADULT SUPERVISING

WEAR GOGGLES AT ALL TIMES

GLASS CHAMBER MAY BREAK WITHOUT WARNING

USE LAB APRON IN CASE GLASS SHATTERS

Investigation

Boiling Water in a Vacuum Chamber

Chemistry PBL by Juan Vielma

Purpose

To demonstrate Boyle's Law

Driving Question

What happens if you put balloons in a vacuum chamber?

Why do the balloons expand inside the vacuum chamber?

Hypothesis

I believed that when as we took the pressure out of the glass chamber, the balloon would expand and eventually pop.

Materials

• • Thermometer

  • Vacuum Chamber

  • Balloons

Procedures

1. Blow up balloons

2. Plug in vacuum chamber

3. Put a balloon into the glass chamber

4. Turn on vacuum chamber while holding onto the hose

5. Observe

Safety

• Do not conduct this experiment without adult supervision

• Remember to wear goggles at all times

• Wear a lab apron

• Hold on to the hose tightly

Analysis and Conclusion

After performing the experiment, we learned that if you take out the air in a vacuum chamber the volume increases and the pressure decreases. If a balloon is out in the vacuum chamber the balloon will expand because there will be less pressure.

Application and Extension

This investigation is related to how more pressure means less volume. In a real-world situation, this can be applied to when a nurse pulls the plunger out on a syringe. It causes the volume within the chamber to increase which causes the pressure do the opposite.

• The bubbles exhaled by a scuba diver grow as the approach the surface of the ocean. (The pressure exerted by the weight of the water decreases with depth, so the volume of the bubbles increases as they rise.)

• Deep sea fish die when brought to the surface. (The pressure decreases as the fish are brought to the surface, so the volume of gases in their bodies increases, and pops bladders, cells, and membranes).

• Pushing in the plunger of a plugged-up syringe decreases the volume of air trapped under the plunger.