1. What happened to the volume of gas when the syringe was submerged in each water bath? Using the concepts discussed above, describe why this occurs, keeping in mind the definition of temperature.
(Tip: Compare the volume of gas in hot water versus cold water and record your observation. Explain what you are seeing and why this is so.)
2. How do you know that pressure is held constant in your experiment?
3. Using a ruler, draw a straight line of best fit through your data points, extrapolating the line until it intersects the (negative) x-axis. Why can you assume a straight line, i.e., a linear relationship?
4. At what temperature does your line intersect the x-axis? What volume corresponds to this temperature?
5. Would it be possible to cool a real gas down to zero volume? What would most likely happen first?
6. Is your measurement of absolute zero close to the actual value (-273 °C)? How might you change the experiment to get closer to the actual value?
7. When does the gas in the syringe do work? When is work being done on the gas inside?