Based on the provided example, each stroke of the vacuum pump removes a specific percentage of the air remaining in the container, rather than a fixed amount.
Understanding Vacuum Pump Operation (Example)
In the context of the given example, the operation of the vacuum pump is defined by its efficiency per stroke:
- Reduction Rate: Each stroke of the pump significantly reduces the volume of air inside the container.
- Percentage Removal: According to the provided information, each stroke reduces the amount of air in the container by 60%.
This means that with every stroke, the pump removes slightly less air than the stroke before it, because there is less air present in total.
How the Reduction Works
Think of it like this:
- You start with a certain amount of air (let's say 100 units for simplicity, representing 100%).
- Stroke 1: Removes 60% of 100 units (60 units).
- Amount remaining: 40 units.
- Stroke 2: Removes 60% of the remaining 40 units (24 units).
- Amount remaining: 16 units.
- Stroke 3: Removes 60% of the remaining 16 units (9.6 units).
- Amount remaining: 6.4 units.
As you can see, the amount of air removed decreases with each stroke, but the percentage removed (60%) remains constant relative to the air present just before the stroke.
Looking at it another way, as stated in the reference:
"...this leaves 40% of the air from the previous state remaining after each stroke."
So, each stroke removes 60% of the air that was there before that stroke occurred.
Summary
In the specific scenario described by the reference, each stroke of the vacuum pump removes a consistent 60% of the current volume of air within the container.
