Final answer:
Individuals eliminate alcohol from their bodies at an approximate rate of RAL per hour (Answer A). The actual elimination rate can vary due to factors like gender, body size, and liver enzyme levels. Women metabolize alcohol more slowly than men, and it takes around five hours to achieve sobriety from a legal intoxication level BAC of 0.08.
Step-by-step explanation:
The rate at which alcohol is metabolized and eliminated from the body is approximately constant over time, and does not significantly change if more alcohol is consumed. According to the given data, the average rate at which alcohol is removed from the blood is expressed in terms of moles per liter per hour (mol L⁻¹ h⁻¹). Therefore, the correct answer to the rate at which individuals eliminate alcohol from their bodies is A. RAL per hour.
It's important to note that while this rate is an average, individual rates of alcohol metabolism can vary by up to 25-30%. This is due to factors such as gender, with women generally metabolizing alcohol more slowly than men, as well as body size and the amount of alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme present in the liver.
The legal limit for intoxication in many places is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08, and it takes at least five hours for a person with a BAC at this level to achieve sobriety, reflecting the alcohol excretion rate.