If a gas is at constant temperature and the pressure increases, what happens to the volume of the gas according to Boyle's Law?

• A. The volume remains unchanged.
• B. The volume increases.
• C. The volume doubles.
• D. The volume decreases.

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Recall Boyle's Law, which states that for a given amount of gas at constant temperature, the pressure and volume are inversely proportional. This means when one increases, the other decreases.
2. Express Boyle's Law mathematically as \(P \times V = k\), where \(P\) is pressure, \(V\) is volume, and \(k\) is a constant for a fixed amount of gas at constant temperature.
3. Understand that if the pressure \(P\) increases while temperature remains constant, the product \(P \times V\) must stay the same, so the volume \(V\) must decrease to compensate.
4. Visualize this relationship: doubling the pressure would halve the volume, and similarly, any increase in pressure results in a proportional decrease in volume.
5. Therefore, according to Boyle's Law, when pressure increases at constant temperature, the volume of the gas decreases.