A sperm whale dives from the surface to great depths the air in its lungs progessively shinks until the lungs are completely collapsed. when the whale ascends its lungs return to their former size. use boyles law to explain this phenomenon.

5 answers

This is a discussion question. Someone here will be glad to review your work if you care to post it.
I don't know how to explain it tho.
What does Boyle's Law say? When pressure increases the volume decreases. When pressure decreases, the volume increases. Fit that into what the problem says about the whale and the lungs and you'll have it. Remember P1V1 = P2V2.
So when the whale goes farther in the water the pressure increases and the volume of his lungs decreases. When the whale ascends, the pressure decreases and the volume of his lungs increases. Does that make sense?
so is this an inverse relationship?