This sad little inflatable Moon globe in the garage was round as a beach ball a few days ago when the temperature was warm, but now that it’s cold, this Moon is a shriveled shadow of itself. Why?
In some dusty old book on the shelf there is the formula: pV=nRT which can be manipulated into V=(nR/p) times T — or more imprecisely as V=(all that other stuff) times T. So if all that other stuff remains the same, the volume of air decreases as the temperature decreases. Voila! That explains why the cold has turned this normally round, happy ball into a sad shriveled sack.
Other mutilations of the same formula also explain why the pressure in the tires goes down in cold weather. However, that does not explain my urge to stay in bed and hide under the covers until it warms up. I guess that needs a whole different formula.
PS–the basic formula above is known as the ideal gas law or as the general gas equation. (No finger pulling involved.)
#idealgaslaw #pressure #volume #coldweather
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