I had to find the absolute zero from a graph with the following points:

Temperature (K) / Volume (mL):
318 4.5
308 4.3
303 4.1
294 4.0
284 3.9
275 3.7
271 3.2

I graphed the points (with the temperature on the y-axis because the lab indicated a vertical temperature axis) and got the equation 38.979x + 139.04. The question that I have is do I set this equation equal to zero to solve for the absolute volume or when the volume is equal to zero and then put that into the original equation to solve for the absolute zero, which should be around 0 or close to it.

absolute temp is when volume is zero. It is confusing here, because as you know, on the Kelvin scale, you should get as abs zero, zero also. Your teacher should have given temps in C, or F, so you wouldn't have gotten confused. Abs Zero Temp is when volume of a gas goes to zero. I would have made temp the horizontal axis, and volume the vertical, and volume as a function of temp. V=k*temp

To find the absolute zero from the given graph, you need to set the equation equal to zero and solve for the volume.

In this case, the equation you obtained is 38.979x + 139.04, where x represents the temperature in Kelvin.

To find the absolute zero, set the equation equal to zero:

0 = 38.979x + 139.04

Now, you can solve this equation for x.

38.979x = -139.04

Divide both sides of the equation by 38.979:

x = -139.04 / 38.979

Calculating the result, you find:

x ≈ -3.56

This means that at a temperature of approximately -3.56 K, the volume will be zero.

Finally, to find the absolute zero, you can substitute this value back into the original equation and calculate the temperature:

Temperature (K) = 38.979(-3.56) + 139.04

Evaluating the expression:

Temperature (K) ≈ 1.32

So, the approximate value for the absolute zero from the given graph is 1.32 K.