Question

If the capacity of the lungs of an adult were 3.8 L, how many moles of air would the lungs contain at body temperature and atmospheric pressure?

Answer 1

• 0.14955 mol

Step-by-step explanation:

We can solve this problem using the ideal gas law

`P \ V = \ n \ R \ T`

where P is the pressure, V the volume, n the number of moles, R the ideal gas constant and T the temperature.

We can use the atmospheric pressure as 1 atm, and the body temperature as 36.5 °C, in Kelvin this is:

`T_(body) = 36.5 \° C = (36.5 + 273.15) K = 309.65 \ K`

The ideal gas constant is:

`R = 0.082057 (L \ atm)/( K \ mol)`

taking all this in consideration, the number of moles will be:

`n = (P \ V)/(  R \ T )`

* 309.65 \ K } [/tex]

`n = 0.14955 \ mol`