gas model with ball
bearings, styrofoam, and cardboard disks
202-11-A-1
DC power supply
202-08-D
video camera
202
DESCRIPTION
The motor vibrates the base plate
inside a plexiglass cylinder containing steel ball bearings, to
simulate
the random motion of atoms in a gas. Increasing the voltage
is
analogous
to increasing the temperature of the gas.
A styrofoam piston supported by collisions with the balls can
be used to show the relationship between volume and temperature.
The styrofoam piston can be loaded with cardboard disks to show the
relationship between volume and pressure.
NOTES
Level the base.
Keep the lid on.
Note that the cylinder prevents the balls from getting under
the base plate, where they can fall through the hole in the bottom.