a mixture of gases at a total pressure of 95kPa contains carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen. The partial pressure of the carbon dioxide is 48kPa and the partial pressure of the nitrogen is 24kPa. What is the partial pressure of the oxygen?
Dalton's Law of partial pressures says that each gas of a mixture exerts its partial pressure independent of the others; i.e., the sum of the partial pressures is the total pressure of the system. Therefore,
total P = PN2 + PCO2 + PO2
To find the partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture of gases, we need to subtract the partial pressures of carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the total pressure of the mixture.
Partial pressure is a measure of the pressure that each gas would exert if it alone occupied the same volume as the mixture at the same temperature.
Given:
Total pressure of the mixture = 95 kPa
Partial pressure of carbon dioxide = 48 kPa
Partial pressure of nitrogen = 24 kPa
To find the partial pressure of oxygen:
Partial pressure of oxygen = Total pressure - Partial pressure of carbon dioxide - Partial pressure of nitrogen
Partial pressure of oxygen = 95 kPa - 48 kPa - 24 kPa
Partial pressure of oxygen = 23 kPa
Therefore, the partial pressure of oxygen in the mixture is 23 kPa.