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If a sealed syringe that contains some gas is heated, in which direction will the syringe plunger move?

Answer 1

Have you got a blow up balloon handy?

Curious minds would like to know if the balloon, after being inflated at room temperature and having roughly measured its circumference using some method, is larger or smaller than the original measurement after being placed in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.

How do we explain this macroscopic change? I'm pretty sure this scenario is equivalent to the syringe.

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Answer 2

Cameron Andrews

The syringe plunger will move outward (expand) when the gas inside the syringe is heated.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.