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Ch 18: A Macroscopic Description of Matter
Chapter 18, Problem 18

An inflated bicycle inner tube is 2.2 cm in diameter and 200 cm in circumference. A small leak causes the gauge pressure to decrease from 110 psi to 80 psi on a day when the temperature is 20°C. What mass of air is lost? Assume the air is pure nitrogen.

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Ideal Gas Law

The Ideal Gas Law relates the pressure, volume, temperature, and number of moles of a gas through the equation PV = nRT. In this context, it helps us understand how changes in pressure and volume affect the amount of gas (in moles) present in the inner tube, allowing us to calculate the mass of air lost due to the leak.
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Gauge Pressure

Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to atmospheric pressure, measured in psi (pounds per square inch) in this case. It is important to distinguish gauge pressure from absolute pressure, as the former does not account for atmospheric pressure, which is crucial for accurately determining the pressure changes in the inner tube due to the leak.
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Density of Nitrogen

The density of nitrogen at standard conditions is essential for calculating the mass of air lost from the inner tube. Knowing the density allows us to convert the number of moles of nitrogen (calculated using the Ideal Gas Law) into mass, which is necessary to answer the question regarding the mass of air that escaped due to the leak.
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