The statement “The exertion of pressure on a substance at constant temperature increases its volume in proportion to the increase in pressure” is:

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It depends
• D. Cannot be determined

Answer: (B)

At constant temperature, gases follow Boyle’s Law: pressure and volume are inversely related. When you increase the pressure on a fixed amount of gas, the gas is compressed and its volume decreases, not increases. The relationship is V ∝ 1/P for a given amount of gas and temperature. So the idea that increasing pressure makes the volume rise contradicts this behavior. A practical example is squeezing a gas in a piston: pushing to raise pressure makes the piston move in and the volume drop. Real gases can deviate a bit at very high pressures, but the basic relationship still means volume goes down as pressure goes up.