Question

The scene below depicts a mixture of four gases.

(1) Which gas has the lowest partial pressure? Answer 1 Question 3 blackgreenpurpleorange

(2) Which gas has the highest partial pressure? Answer 2 Question 3 greenblackpurpleorange

(3) If the total pressure is 1.57 atm, the partial pressure of the purple gas is Answer 3 Question 3 atm. (Report as a simple number to two decimal places.)

(4) When the total pressure of a mixture of gases is lowered, the partial pressures of individual gases are also reduced. Suppose you are in an airplane, flying at an altitude of 5,000 ft. where the external air pressure is 0.83 atm, and the cabin suddenly depressurized. If oxygen gas constitutes 21 mol% of the atmosphere, what is the partial pressure of oxygen that you encounter? Answer 4 Question 3 atm. Do you think you will survive if your body requires at least 0.15 atm O2 for your blood to be sufficiently oxygenated?

Like
0

Answer 1

Without specific percentages, we cannot determine the gas with the lowest or highest partial pressure. The partial pressure of the purple gas, if it's oxygen, at a total pressure of 1.57 atm, would be 0.33 atm. The partial pressure of oxygen at 5,000 ft altitude with 0.83 atm external pressure is 0.17 atm, above the minimum required for sufficient blood oxygenation.

Step-by-step explanation:

To identify the gas with the lowest and highest partial pressure, we need to know the percentages of each gas in the mix. However, in general cases, Dalton's Law states that the total pressure of a mixture of gases is the sum of the partial pressures of individual gases in the mixture. Without the specific percentages, we cannot determine which gas has the lowest or highest partial pressure, but we can infer based on typical atmospheric composition that the gas with the smallest percentage in the mixture would have the lowest partial pressure and vice versa.

Assuming the purple gas represents one of the main atmospheric gases and knowing the total pressure of 1.57 atm, the partial pressure can be calculated using the formula P = (Patm) X (percent content in mixture). If purple gas is oxygen, with 21% of atmospheric gas being oxygen, then:

Poxygen = (1.57 atm) X (0.21) = 0.3297 atm, which can be rounded to 0.33 atm.

At an altitude of 5,000 ft. with an external pressure of 0.83 atm, and considering oxygen makes up 21% of the atmosphere, the partial pressure of oxygen encountered would be:

Poxygen = (0.83 atm) X (0.21) = 0.1743 atm, rounded to 0.17 atm. Since this value is above the minimum of 0.15 atm of oxygen required for sufficient blood oxygenation, survival is likely under these conditions.