eli5: When air gets heated, it’s volume increases. How does the surrounding air make room for the increased volume?
In: Physics
You have a formula that goes : P x V = n x R x T
This is pressure in relation to volume equals to the number of molecules of glass in relation to temperature…
This means, if temperature increases, either pressure or volume has to increase, or the number of molecules has to decrease, this would be explained as gas leaving the room, the room having a higher pressure or the room expanding (this would happen with stuff like a balloon)
So in a normal room, if you heat it, pressure will tend to stay the same and the volume/size of the room is a fixed thing, so air will just escape through the door etc and you will have less molecules…
Mass of air has plenty of space within it. So when a part of it expands, the other part can accommodate it.
It is this presence of space within air because of which it lacks shape and structure and has no form of its own.
It is also the reason why it is possible to squeeze (technically, compress) air. Air inside a large room could be squeezed (by removing space within it) and be fit inside a small aerosol can. And later, you can release it from the can to fill the room again. That’s how deodorant cans and scuba tanks work!
It moves out of the way. A pressure wave will travel outwards in all directions. This is how wind ‘forms’. High pressure air moves into lower pressure areas.
It expands if it has room to expand which means that something else has to move. If it is in a cylinder with a piston then the piston moves producing work (an engine). If it is surrounded by other air then that air will move away. If it is in a balloon then the wall will stretch and the balloon will get bigger. If it is in a pressure proof cylinder with a fixed shape then it will not expand and the pressure will go up instead.
[removed]
Latest Answers