Question

imagine that you added helium gas to a partially inflated mylar ballon, and expanded as the gas was added. During this expansion process, do you think the pressure of the helium gas inside the ballon increased , decreased or remained fairly constant? Assume the temperature of the gas remains constant. briefly explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

This is a nutty question, if there ever was one. Gas molecules move towards lower pressure, so if they are going from the entrance to the outside wall, they must be going to a lower pressure area, while expanding. Now as the balloon fills, the average pressure is increasing, as more molecules are crowding into the same (essentailly) volume. So I don't really know what the teacher means when by "during the expansion" .