Question

The Temperature inside the Balloon must equilibrate to the temperature outside, otherwise the final volume of the balloon would be (smaller, the same, or larger, Chose One) Explain

Answer 1

This depends upon the temperature of gas filled inside balloon and outside temperature. The speed of a gas particle is proportional to its absolute temperature. The volume of the balloon filled with gas shrinks when it is kept under cold nitrogen. The temperature of any physical system (solid, liquid or gas) is related to the motions of the particles (molecules and atoms). In statistical mechanics, temperature is the measure of the average kinetic energy stored in a particle. The methods of storing this energy are dictated by the degrees of freedom of the particle itself (energy modes). When temperature inside balloon is high, these heated gas molecules have a greater kinetic energy which in turn collides more strongly to the wall of balloon and hence the volume of balloon will increase.