The height of an air column is proportional to the volume of air contained in the capillary tube. Therefore, use the height of the air column as the value for the volume of the gas, and calculate the volume/temperature ratio for each trial .
Here are the heights for the air columns:
4.8 cm
5.2 cm
5.4 cm
5.8 cm
6.2 cm
6.5 cm
I'm not sure how to calculate the volume/temperature ratio.Please help!
Do you have temperatures for each of the heights you measured? Then 4.8/T; 5.2/T, etc.
I don't know what experiment you are doing but T MAY need to be in Kelvin.
I am doing experiment 24 in the Prentice Hall lab book if that helps. Anyways I have temperatures in celsius and kelvin.Here is the chart:
Temp. Height Temp in K
in C:
1.1 4.8 274.25
23.2 5.2 296.35
40.1 5.4 313.25
61.4 5.8 334.55
79.0 6.2 352.15
99.9 6.5 373.05
So would I for example put 4.8/274.25, 5.2/296.35, etc. for the volume temperature ratios?
I haven't seen a copy of the Prentice-Hall lab book so that doens't help much. Since you also asked the question about why graph in both C and K, I would suggest you determine both ratios; i.e., 4.8/1.1 and 4.8/274.25.
To calculate the volume/temperature ratio for each trial, you would divide the height of the air column by the temperature in Celsius or Kelvin.
For example, for the first trial with a height of 4.8 cm and a temperature of 1.1 degrees Celsius, you would calculate the volume/temperature ratio as follows:
Ratio = 4.8 cm / 1.1 °C
Similarly, if you want to calculate the ratio using Kelvin instead, you would use the temperature in Kelvin:
Ratio = 4.8 cm / 274.25 K
Repeat this calculation for each trial, using the respective height and temperature values for each case.
Keep in mind that when using temperature in Celsius, the resulting ratio will have units of cm/°C, while when using Kelvin, the units will be cm/K.