a gas mixture is comprised of 32% oxygen and the rest is nitrogen. If the scuba tank is pressurized to a total pressure of 132 atm what are the partial pressures of the oxygen and nitrogen inside the tank?
I'm having trouble understanding how to find partial pressures. Can someone explain the concept to me so that I can be able to at least set up the problem on my own
the partial pressure is the total pressure, multiplied by the fraction of the gas involved
in this case
...ppO = .32 * 132 atm
...ppN = (1 - .32) * 132 atm
Partial pressure is a concept used to describe the pressure exerted by an individual gas in a mixture of gases. In the case of a gas mixture, the partial pressure of each gas is proportional to its mole fraction, which is the ratio of the number of moles of that gas to the total number of moles of all gases in the mixture.
To find the partial pressures of oxygen and nitrogen in the gas mixture, you need to follow these steps:
1. Convert the percentage of oxygen into a decimal fraction. In this case, 32% oxygen is equal to 0.32.
2. Subtract this fraction from 1 to find the fraction of nitrogen in the mixture. In this case, it would be 1 - 0.32 = 0.68.
3. Determine the number of moles of oxygen and nitrogen. Since we don't have the exact amount of gas, we will assume that we have 1 mole of the gas mixture. Therefore, 0.32 moles of oxygen and 0.68 moles of nitrogen.
4. Apply the ideal gas law, which states that the pressure (P) of a gas is equal to the number of moles (n) multiplied by the gas constant (R) and the temperature (T). Mathematically, P = nRT.
5. Calculate the partial pressures of oxygen and nitrogen using the ideal gas law equation. Since the total pressure is given as 132 atm, you will need to calculate the partial pressures based on these mole fractions.
Partial pressure of oxygen (P(O2)) = mole fraction of oxygen (X(O2)) * total pressure (P(total))
= 0.32 * 132 atm
Partial pressure of nitrogen (P(N2)) = mole fraction of nitrogen (X(N2)) * total pressure (P(total))
= 0.68 * 132 atm
This will give you the partial pressures of oxygen and nitrogen in the gas mixture using the given mole fractions and total pressure.