gas
A piston having a certain pressure and volume left piston will have half the volume when its pressure is twice as much right piston . One can also plot P versus V for a given amount of gas at a certain temperature; such a plot will look like the graph on the right. Boyles law is an example of a second type of mathematical problem we see in chemistryone based on a mathematical formula. Tactics for working with mathematical formulas are different from tactics for working with conversion factors. First, most of the questions you will have to answer using formulas are word-type questions, so the first step is to identify what quantities are known and assign them to variables. Second, in most formulas, some mathematical rearrangements i. , algebra must be performed to solve for an unknown variable. The rule is that to find the value of the unknown variable, you must mathematically isolate the unknown variable by itself and in the numerator of one side of the equation. Finally, units must be consistent. For example, in Boyles law there are two pressure variables; they must have the same unit. There are also two volume variables; they also must have the same unit. In most cases, it wont matter what the unit is, but the unit must be the same on both sides of the equation.