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If you squash a balloon, the pressure inside it rises. How does the kinetic theory explain this?

Answer 1

According to the particle model (kinetic molecular theory), pressure is the number of particle collisions per unit of time.

Therefore, when a balloon is squashed, its volume decreases. The same number of particles are still inside the balloon, but because they have less room to move, they will collide with one another more frequently, increasing the pressure.

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Answer 2

Xavier Avery

The kinetic theory explains this by stating that when a balloon is squashed, the volume decreases while the number of gas molecules remains constant. This results in the gas molecules colliding with the walls of the balloon more frequently and with greater force, leading to an increase in pressure inside the balloon.

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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.