Question

Sometimes the problem will give the initial and final states in different units. In this case, you need to identify all of the pressures and all of the volumes by organizing them into a table (step 1 of our problem-solving method). Then, you need to convert all of your pressures to the same units (usually atmospheres works best) and all of your volumes to the same units (usually liters). Then you can set up the problem and solve. A balloon filled with 2.00 L of helium initially at 1.35 atm of pressure rises into the atmosphere. When the surrounding pressure reaches 470. mmHg, the balloon will burst. If 1 atm = 760. mmHg, what volume will the balloon occupy in the instant before it bursts? help too many steps!

Answer 1

Initial Volume of the balloon filled with helium =

Initial pressure of helium in the balloon =

Final pressure inside the balloon =

We know that 1 atm = 760. mmHg

Hence, we can convert the final pressure into atm unit as follows:

Now, we can assume the final volume before it burst at pressure of 0.618 atm to be

Hence, we can tabulate the values as follows:

Initial	1.35 atm	2.00 L
Final	0.618 atm	Vf

Now, assuming constant temperature, the pressure and volume are inversely related according to Boyle's law.

Hence, we can write

Hence, the volume occupied by the balloon before it bursts is 4.37 L. (Rounded to three significant figures).