Is blowing up a balloon a great analogy for Avogadro's Law?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on Avogadro's Law, which states that for a given mass of an ideal gas, the volume and amount (moles) of the gas are directly proportional at constant temperature and pressure. A balloon analogy is explored, where increasing the moles of air inside a balloon results in a proportional increase in volume. However, the effectiveness of this analogy is debated, with rubber party balloons being less suitable due to pressure differences, while mylar and garbage bags provide better examples due to their ability to inflate without significant deformation. The piston and cylinder setup is suggested as a more effective thought experiment for understanding the law.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Avogadro's Law
  • Basic knowledge of ideal gas behavior
  • Familiarity with pressure, volume, and temperature relationships
  • Concept of moles in chemistry
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  • Research the mathematical formulation of Avogadro's Law
  • Learn about the ideal gas law and its applications
  • Explore the properties of different types of balloons and their impact on gas behavior
  • Study the mechanics of gas behavior in a piston-cylinder system
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Chemistry students, educators, and anyone interested in understanding gas laws and their real-life applications.

Greg777
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Hello,
I was learning about Avogadro's Law and trying to find some real-life example of it. It mainly states that:

For a given mass of an ideal gas, the volume and amount (moles) of the gas are directly proportional if the temperature and pressure are constant.

So let's say I have a balloon with X moles of air inside it which take up volume V. Then I pump it and add more air which result in the balloon having 2X moles and taking up volume 2V right? I think that the pressure is constant since it must adjust to the pressure of surroundings but I'm not sure about the temperature. So is it a good example to build up some intuition about the law or I misinterpreted something?
 
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"Great?" No. "Good?" Not really. "So-so?" Depends on the balloon: rubber party balloons, not so good due to pressure difference required to stretch them though they do offer cylindrical or semi-spherical shapes that are fairly convenient for volume calculations; mylar bags, garbage bags, that inflate without deformation and are very low mass are okay, but it's tough to calculate a volume for very irregular geometry. A reasonable compromise for two rudimentary approaches ---- eehhh ----- better than no mental picture.
 
I think the easier thought experiment apparatus is a piston and cylinder.You can think about the volume of the cylinder, the mass of gas contained, the temperature, and the force on the piston.
 

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