Question

A mixture of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and argon gas has a total pressure of 5.76 atm. Oxygen has a partial pressure of 1.31 atm, nitrogen 2.22 atm, and argon 0.77 atm. What is the partial pressure of the carbon dioxide?

Answer 1

Total pressure is defined as the sum of all partial pressures in a container, therefore in our question we have:

Ptotal = 5.76 atm

PO2 = 1.31 atm

PN = 2.22 atm

PAr = 0.77 atm

PCO2 = ?

Since the total pressure is the sum of all partial pressures, if we subtract the partial pressures that we know from the total pressure we will have the value of partial pressure for CO2

5.76 - 1.31 = 4.45

4.45 - 2.22 = 2.23

2.23 - 0.77 = 1.46 atm, this is the Partial Pressure for CO2