Robert Boyle also known as “the Father of Chemistry” was born on the 25th of January 1625 at Lismore Castle, Munster, Ireland and was the fourteenth child of his father Sir Richard Boyle. Boyle was Anglican/ Episcopalian in religion and as a young child; Boyle had learnt to speak both the Latin and French languages. Boyle’s first published book (New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air and Its Effects (1660)) explained the physical properties of air. It was in this book that he showed a series of experiments with him using an air pump to create a vacuum. The second part to this book was the first document showing what we know now as ‘Boyle’s Law’ (Reville, 2001) where: “the volume of a given amount of gas held at constant temperature varies inversely with the applied pressure when the temperature and mass are constant” (Gas Laws).
This gave an understanding towards science on the nature of gases by showing that if a certain amount of a gas is at a large volume it will have a low pressure, but if the volume of that same gas is small the pressure will be higher.
Boyle wrote another book titled the Sceptical Chemist in 1661 where he ‘attacked’ Aristotle’s theory of everything being made up of four elements (fire, water, air and earth), but instead he describes elements as: “certain primitive and simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies; which not being made of any other bodies, or of one another, are the ingredients of which all those called perfectly mixt bodies are immediately compounded, and into which they are ultimately resolved.” (sourced from site: http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/early-chemistry-and-gases/boyle.aspx )
During his studies at Oxford, Boyle was able to explain that gases are able to be compressed as there is space between each of the atoms or molecules, so each molecule of the gas could be pressed closer and closer together. Boyle also said that there must not be much space between the molecules in liquids and solids as they are much harder to compress. Other parts of science that Boyle contributed to were that he showed how air was needed for combustion to take place, for animals breathing (respiration) and for the transmission of sound (Reville, 2001).
Boyles law is PV=k where k is the constant and where temperature is also constant. He was able to conclude this formula through the use of a J-shaped tube (sealed at one end)(image below). In this tube he trapped a certain amount of gas (in his case it was air) and he added certain amounts of mercury to the tube which would change the pressure depending on how much mercury was added. In this experiment Boyle used a constant volume of gas and a constant temperature to visibly see the pressure to volume relationship (Blauch, Gas Laws: Boyle's Law, 2009).
This gave an understanding towards science on the nature of gases by showing that if a certain amount of a gas is at a large volume it will have a low pressure, but if the volume of that same gas is small the pressure will be higher.
Boyle wrote another book titled the Sceptical Chemist in 1661 where he ‘attacked’ Aristotle’s theory of everything being made up of four elements (fire, water, air and earth), but instead he describes elements as: “certain primitive and simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies; which not being made of any other bodies, or of one another, are the ingredients of which all those called perfectly mixt bodies are immediately compounded, and into which they are ultimately resolved.” (sourced from site: http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/early-chemistry-and-gases/boyle.aspx )
During his studies at Oxford, Boyle was able to explain that gases are able to be compressed as there is space between each of the atoms or molecules, so each molecule of the gas could be pressed closer and closer together. Boyle also said that there must not be much space between the molecules in liquids and solids as they are much harder to compress. Other parts of science that Boyle contributed to were that he showed how air was needed for combustion to take place, for animals breathing (respiration) and for the transmission of sound (Reville, 2001).
Boyles law is PV=k where k is the constant and where temperature is also constant. He was able to conclude this formula through the use of a J-shaped tube (sealed at one end)(image below). In this tube he trapped a certain amount of gas (in his case it was air) and he added certain amounts of mercury to the tube which would change the pressure depending on how much mercury was added. In this experiment Boyle used a constant volume of gas and a constant temperature to visibly see the pressure to volume relationship (Blauch, Gas Laws: Boyle's Law, 2009).
A sample problem incorporating Boyle’s law would be the use of a syringe. If liquid had to be transported from one place to another in precise amounts then the use of Boyle’s law in a syringe would be able to solve that problem. An example problem would be in a chemistry experiment. If certain amounts of liquids or gases were needed in the experiment then the use of a syringe would provide the answer. The theory behind it is that as the volume of the gas inside is increased the pressure becomes lower and liquid or gas is drawn in to equalise it and vice versa. If the original pressure of the syringe was 1 atm with 20ml of air, then pressure reduced to 0.45 atm, how much air has the syringe drawn in once the pressure has equalised? 1 x 20 = 0.45 x v2 = 20/0.45 = 44.4 mls in total. 44.4-20 = 24.4 therefore the syringe drew in 24.4mls of air