an interesting question
will probably make for a lively class discussion
a couple of pertinent facts
... normal exhaled air is about 15% O2
... humans can "survive" in air down to about 6% O2
When you try to leave your room you learn that the only door out is locked. Assuming there is no air flow into the room (air tight with no ventilation system) how long can you survive in the room
(5 meters long, 5 meters wide, 5 meters high)
-Human tidal volume (volume of air that moves in and out of the lungs during normal quiet respiration) is about 500 mL for an adult
-Resting respiratory rate for adults is 12-18 breaths per minute (bpm) under stressful conditions, we would expect to be at the high end of that, so let's use 18 ppm for our problem
-For a human adult breathing normal air, inhaled air is about 20.8% O2
-The density of normal air is about 1.2g/L
1 answer