If you pump air into a bicycle tire, what happens to the pressure inside the tire?

When air is pumped into a bicycle tire, the volume of gas inside the tire increases due to the addition of more air particles. As more gas particles are introduced, they collide with the walls of the tire more frequently. This increase in the number of collisions results in a rise in pressure inside the tire.

According to the ideal gas law, where pressure is related to the number of moles of gas (n), volume (V), and temperature (T), increasing the number of gas particles while keeping the volume of the tire constant leads to an increase in pressure. This relationship is a reflection of how gases behave in confined spaces: as you add gas, the collective force exerted by the molecules on the walls of the container increases, thus raising the pressure.

Other options do not reflect the principles of gas behavior under these conditions. For example, a decrease in pressure would contradict the direct relationship between the number of gas particles and pressure, while proposing the pressure stays the same ignores the added particles and their impact. Fluctuations in pressure might occur under specific conditions, but the general expectation is a consistent increase due to the fundamental principles of gas laws.