A Table of the Condensation of the Air. Results of an experiment by Boyle using a U-shaped tube with unequal legs, sealed at the end of the shorter leg, then gradually filled with mercury. Boyle found the volume of air trapped below the seal became progressively less as the presure of the mercury increased. The table shows how his experimental results agreed closely with his theoretical law, Boyle's law, that volume is inversely proportional to the pressure. Page from New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, touching The Spring of the Air by Robert Boyle (London, 1682). Robert Boyle (16271691) Irish born chemist and physicist.