According to Boyle's Law, what happens to the volume of a gas when the pressure increases at constant temperature?

• A. The volume increases.
• B. The volume remains unchanged.
• C. The volume first increases, then decreases.
• 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 that as 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 still equal the same constant \(k\).
4. To maintain the constant product, the volume \(V\) must decrease when pressure \(P\) increases, since \(V = \frac{k}{P}\).
5. Therefore, according to Boyle's Law, an increase in pressure at constant temperature results in a decrease in the volume of the gas.