volume increases
There are other measurable characteristics of a gas. One of them is temperature T . Perhaps one can vary the temperature of a gas sample and note what effect it has on the other properties of the gas. Early scientists did just this, discovering that if the amount of a gas and its pressure are kept constant, then changing the temperature changes the volume V . As temperature increases, volume increases; as temperature decreases, volume decreases. We say that these two characteristics are directly related. A mathematical relationship between V and T should be possible except for one thought: what temperature scale should we use? We know from Chapter 2 "Measurements" that science uses several possible temperature scales. Experiments show that the volume of a gas is related to its absolute temperature in Kelvin, not its temperature in degrees Celsius. If the temperature of a gas is expressed in kelvins, then experiments show that the ratio of volume to temperature is a constant:.