Conclusions
So, after exploring our syringes, making observations, finding patterns, and testing patterns, we have found an über-pattern that seems to reliably predict what will happen in a closed syringe system:
“When a closed syringe system is at rest (no one is pulling up or pushing down on a plunger), then the closed syringe system will always return to the total volume it had at the start.”
And some of you may have even noticed a second pattern:
“The further a closed syringe system gets from the total volume it had at the start, the harder it will be to continue pushing down or pulling up on a plunger.”
Please note that these are patterns and not theories. We still have no idea how or why the syringes behave as they do. That is something that we will be figuring out later in the unit.
Being able to predict the behavior of a closed syringe system will be critical as we work to develop a theory to explain these patterns later in the unit, so continue exploring the single syringe simulator and the syringe pair simulator until you can accurately predict the behavior of a closed syringe system on your own.