The typical capacity for human lungs is approximately 5800 mL. At a temperature of 37C (average body tempurature) and pressure of 0.98 atm, how many moles of air do we carry inside our lungs?

An ideal gas is a theoretical gas that is considered to be composed of point particles that move randomly and do not interact with each other. Gases in general are ideal when they are at high temperatures and low pressures.

The gas laws are a set of chemical and physical laws that allow determining the behavior of gases in a closed system. The parameters evaluated in these laws are pressure, volume, temperature and moles.

The ideal gas law is an equation that relates the variables pressure P, temperature T and volume V if the amount of substance, number of moles n, remains constant and where R is the molar constant of the gases as follows:

P * V = n * R * T

In this case:

P= 0.98 atm
V= 5800 mL= 5.8 L (being 1,000 mL= 1 L)
n= ?
R= 0.082 [tex]\frac{atm*L}{mol*K}[/tex]
T= 37 C= 310 K (being 0 C= 273 K)

Replacing:

0.98 atm* 5.8 L= n* 0.082 [tex]\frac{atm*L}{mol*K}[/tex] * 310 K

Solving:

[tex]n=\frac{0.98 atm* 5.8 L}{0.082 \frac{atm*L}{mol*K} *310 K}[/tex]

n= 0.22 moles

0.22 moles of air we carry inside our lungs.