Preview - Ideal Gas Laws - Connected Chemistry 2019

Why does the balloon expand?

Before moving on to our computational explorations, let us consider the GIF on the right, which shows a the result of an interesting real world experiment:

  1. The experimenter places a blown balloon inside liquid nitrogen*.
  2. The balloon shrinks while contacting the liquid nitrogen.
  3. He takes the shrunk balloon out and holds it in his hands.
  4. The balloon automatically expands.

 

Why does the balloon expand? Let's hypothesize.

*Liquid nitrogen is a very cold substance used in food industry to preserve food by freezing it quickly. It is also used in medicine to treat skin conditions.

Questions

Please answer the questions below.

What is the difference when the balloon is contacting liquid nitrogen and when it is outside of the bowl? Draw a sketch for each condition. Things to consider: what is inside the balloon? how do the outside conditions affect the interior of the balloon? (please spend no more than 6 minutes on this task).

Note: please use colors other than black to differentiate with the balloon outline.

Note: Draw your sketch in the sketchpad below

Please explain your sketch verbally. (min. 3 sentences)

  • Which shapes did you draw on the left? Why?
  • Which shapes did you draw on the right? Why? 

Did "gas pressure" factor into your thinking? If yes, please elaborate. If no, why? (min. 2 sentences)

If you were to develop a NetLogo model to explore this phenomena, how would you design it? Explain verbally (min 3 sentences/ideas):

  • What would the model's view look like?
  • What kind of elements would be in the model?
  • What kind of tools would you have (e.g., sliders, buttons)?

Notes

These notes will appear on every page in this lesson so feel free to put anything here you'd like to keep track of.