How Temperature Affects the Size of Balloons

Why is balloon B larger than balloon A? Final answer: Balloon B is larger than balloon A because it contains gas at a higher temperature option 3, as gas volume is directly proportional to its absolute temperature when pressure and number of moles remain constant.

Explanation:

If each balloon was filled with an identical number of moles of gas, and balloon B is larger than balloon A, the most likely explanation is that the gas in balloon B has a higher temperature than the gas in balloon A. This is due to Amontons's Law (or Gay-Lussac's Law), which states, if the volume is allowed to change while the pressure and number of moles remain constant, the volume of a gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature. Therefore, assuming both balloons are at the same pressure and have the same number of moles of gas, balloon B, being larger, contains gas at a higher temperature. This explanation is supported by the fact that the molar mass of the gas does not affect volume when the number of moles is held constant, hence option 1 and 2 are incorrect.

Furthermore, if balloon B were at a lower temperature than balloon A, it would be smaller, not larger, making option 4 incorrect.

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