Recent events (just before “the big game” in 2015) have brought the Ideal Gas Law into the public eye. The physics of deflategate can help you see the effects.
Deflategate Physics
The question is not whether temperature can affect the pressure of a football. The question is how much the temperature can affect the pressure.
I put a little bit of warm tap water into a water bottle, closed it, and took it outside. It was a cold January day when the temperature was about 7 ºF.
Here’s a video showing the effect of a large temperature change (~95 ºF) on the pressure and volume of a plastic water bottle.
YouTube Link: http://youtu.be/pMWwfzqLgUo
Have you notice the crackling and popping sounds in your car this winter as the car warms up? Chances are that there is a closed bottle somewhere in the car that is making noise as the gas inside warms up and expands.
Read on for more information and a quick calculation…