Chapter 8.11, Problem 8.20P

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The percent composition of air in lungs should be determined from the given partial pressures.

Concept Introduction:

• Partial pressure: The pressure of each gas in a mixture of gases is the partial pressure.
• Dalton’s law of partial pressure: The total pressure of gases in a mixture of gases is the sum of the pressure of each gas in the mixture
• Mole fraction: Quantity which defines the number of moles of a substance in a mixture divided by the total number of moles of all substances present.

  ${\text{x}}_{\text{a}}\text{=}\frac{{\text{n}}_{\text{a}}}{{\text{n}}_{\text{total}}}$

• $\begin{array}{l}{\text{p}}_{\text{a}}\text{=}{\text{x}}_{\text{a}}\text{×}{\text{P}}_{\text{total}}\\ \end{array}$

  Partial pressure of a gas in the mixture of gases is the product of mole fraction of the gas and the total pressure.