PARTIAL PRESSURE DETERMINATION OF OXYGEN, CARBON DIOXIDE AND

NITROGEN
CANDANO, Ariane Faith, CATAPANG, Reyane Ivy, CRUZ, Bridgette Kaycee,
DIMASUAY, Mariko Joyce, DUMANJOG, Jhuzell, ESPIRITU,Laetitia Martina
Group 3
2A-Biochemistry
Abstract
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressure states that the total pressure of a mixture of gases is the sum of the
partial pressure of individual gas. The main objective of this experiment is to determine the partial
pressure of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen in the atmosphere and of carbon dioxide in expired air.
Using two different set-ups, which are a large test tube filled with iron fillings submerged in a beaker with
water and an Erlenmeyer flask with a small vial containing NaOH, we were able to gather the data
needed to compute for the partial pressure of these gases. The reaction of oxygen and iron filling inside
the test tube determined the partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere which was 235.64 mmHg,
31.006%. The reaction of carbon dioxide with NaOH, determined the partial pressure of carbon dioxide
which was 0.15 mmHg, 0.01974%. Using the partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide and Dalton’s
Law of Partial pressure, we were able to determine the partial pressure of nitrogen which was 524.21
mmHg, 68.98%. In the determination of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in expired air, the reaction
between carbon dioxide and NaOH was used. As the carbon dioxide reacts with NaOH, there was a drop
of pressure in the sample and water rose in the glass tube; thus the higher partial pressure of carbon
dioxide in exhaled air would cause the rise of the water level. The percentage of carbon dioxide was
calculated and it was observed to be 0.048% In conclusion, among the gas components in the
atmosphere, nitrogen is the most abundant and carbon dioxide is the least abundant gas in the
atmosphere.

Introduction bring oxygen and flush out carbon

Earth's atmosphere is a mixture
of gases that surrounds our home
planet. Besides providing us with
something to breathe, the atmosphere
helps and protects life on Earth. The
atmosphere is a mixture of 78%
nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon and
the remaining 0.1% consists of several
gases, whereas the most dominant is
carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane,
nitrous oxide, and ozone (Helmenstine,
2019). Expired air is a mixture of
alveolar air and inspired air with regard
to oxygen and carbon dioxide
concentrations. Alveolar air is the air in
the alveoli that are involved in the
pulmonary exchange of gases between
air and blood. Meanwhile, breathing is
the process of gas exchange in which
air is moved into and out of the lungs to
dioxide. The control of breathing
involves many factors: oxygen, carbon
dioxide, blood alkali, and H ions, and
particularly the sensitivity of the
respiratory center under a wide range of
conditions and influences. In terms of
health conditions, a normal man
breathes volumes of air that are closely
proportional to the amounts of carbon
dioxide that are produced in his tissues.
(Boyer et al., n.d). Dalton's law of partial
pressure states that the pressure
exerted by an individual gas in a mixture
is known as its partial pressure. Also,
the total pressure of a mixture of gases
is equal to the sum of the partial
pressures of the component gases.
According to Helmenstine (2019), partial
pressure is the pressure of the gas if it is
in the same volume and temperature by
itself. The objective of this experiment is

1
to determine the partial pressure of
oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in
the atmosphere as well as the partial
pressure of carbon dioxide and its
percentage amount in the expired air
through the application of Dalton’s Law
of Partial Pressure.
Methodology
The experiment was divided into
two parts. The first part aims to
determine the partial pressure of
oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in
the atmosphere. In order to achieve this,
a large test tube was filled with water
and was transferred to a graduated
cylinder, its volume was then recorded.
While the inner walls of the test tube
were wet, a spatula of iron filling was
then transferred. The test tube was
rolled to allow the iron filings to stick to
its walls, excess iron fillings were
eliminated. Then, the test tube was
submerged upside down inside a 250
mL beaker half-filled with water, a clamp
was utilized to secure the placement of
the test tube inside the beaker. This
setup was used in the determination of
oxygen in the atmosphere. The water
displacement inside the test tube was
marked, this serves as the volume of
oxygen. The setup was carefully stored
for 4 days. After setting aside the setup,
the water displacement and the inner
radius of the test tube were measured
using a ruler. After such, calculations
were made to determine the partial
pressure of oxygen. For the
determination of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, a small vial was paced
inside an Erlenmeyer flask. While the
vial is upright, a funnel was placed in the
flask directly above the vial. Slowly pour
6 M NaOH until ¾ of the vial is filled.
After this, a small amount of mineral oil
was placed into the vial until it forms
about a 1mm layer on top. A two-holed
cork with a 5 cm glass tubing in each
hole was placed in the flask. Attached to
this was a short piece of rubber tubing in
one glass tubing and a longer piece of
rubbing tubing to the other, at the end of
the longer rubber tubing, a 7 cm glass
tubing was attached and submerged in a
beaker containing water. To achieve a
closed system, a pinch clamp was
placed on the shorter piece of rubber
tubing. Tilt the flask until the vial is tip
over so that the NaOH solution spills
out, swirl the flask. While swirling,
observe the rise of water from the glass
tubing submerged in the beaker until it
stops to rise. With the use of a ruler, the
measure between the water level in the
beaker and the water level in the vertical
glass tube will determine the partial
pressure of carbon dioxide in mmH20. In
the determination of nitrogen in the
atmosphere, the observed atmospheric
pressure, and the data in determining
the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere were used.
For the second part of the
experiment which aims to determine the
partial pressure of carbon dioxide in
expired air, a set-up using flask, tubing,
and vial was used for carbon dioxide
determination. The vial was filled with
6M NaOH and sealed with mineral oil to
prevent the NaOH from reacting with
carbon dioxide. A straw was inserted
into the other rubber tubing for the
expired air. The flask was tilted after it
was filled with expired air. It was tilted to
allow NaOH to react with CO2. The flask
was continuously swirled until a
permanent change in the water level in
the glass tubing was observed.
Results and Discussion
Table 1.1. Partial Pressure of Oxygen
2
Atmospheric Pressure: 760 mmHg
Volume of test 67 mL
tube
Volume of O2 in 20.77 mL
the atmosphere
% of O2 in the 31.006 %
atmosphere
Partial pressure of 235.64 mmHg
O2
Table 1.1 shows the data
gathered in determining the partial
pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere.
After setting aside the setup, the height
of the water displaced in the test tube
and the inner radius of the test tube
were measured using a ruler, these
measurements were then used to
determine the percentage of O2 in the
atmosphere by dividing the volume of
oxygen with the volume of the test tube
and multiplying the quotient by 100.
Finally, the percentage of oxygen was
multiplied to the atmospheric pressure to
be able to determine the partial pressure
of oxygen present in the setup, which
was 235.64 mmHg. The change of the
displacement of water inside the test
tube after setting it aside was due to the
reaction of oxygen with the iron filings,
changing its physical state and forming
iron rust thus removing oxygen inside
and replaced with the water outside the
test tube.
Table 1.2. Partial Pressure of Carbon
Dioxide
Atmospheric Pressure: 760 mmHg
Height of water in 654 mm
the beaker
Height of water in 67 mm
the tube
Partial Pressure 2 mmH2O
of CO2
Partial Pressure 0.15 mmHg
of CO2
% CO2 in the 0.01974 %
atmosphere
In determining the partial
pressure of carbon dioxide, a different
set-up was used. Table 1.2 shows the
data gathered from the experiment, the
height of the water in the glass tubing
was measured and converted in mmHg.
The percentage of carbon dioxide was
computed using the formula shown
below. Finally, the percentage of carbon
dioxide was multiplied to the
atmospheric pressure to determine the
partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere which yielded to 0.015
mmHg.
While swirling the flask carbon dioxide
reacted with NaOH, thus resulting in a
visible rise of water in the glass tubing
submerged in the beaker. This reaction
is due to the change of state and
reduction of carbon dioxide absorbed by
NaOH forming sodium bicarbonate. The
total pressure of air inside the test tube
was reduced, thus the water level rose
to achieve pressure equilibrium.
Table 1.3. Partial Pressure of Nitrogen
Atmospheric Pressure: 760 mmHg
Partial Pressure 524.21 mmHg
of N2
% N2 in the 68.98 %
atmosphere
Lastly, in order to determine the
partial pressure of nitrogen in the
atmosphere, the data gathered from the
first two experiments were used.
Applying Dalton’s Law of Partial
3
Pressure stating that the total pressure
of a mixture of gasses is the sum of the
partial pressure of the individual gas
(Silberberg, 2009), by adding the partial
pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide,
235.64 mmHg and 0.015 mmHg
respectively, and subtracting the sum to
the atmospheric pressure, 760 mmHg,
we were able to determine the partial
pressure of nitrogen which is 524.21
mmHg.
In summary, 68.98% of nitrogen,
31.006% of oxygen and 0.01974 % of
carbon dioxide are present in the
atmosphere in this experiment.
Comparing all these data, we are able to
prove that air comprises 78% nitrogen,
21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.04% carbon
dioxide, and other gasses and that
nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the
atmosphere (EarthHow, 2017).
Table 2.1. Partial Pressure of Carbon
Dioxide in Expired Air.
Atmospheric pressure: 760
mmHg
Height of water 5 mmH2O
column
0.367 mmHg
Pco2:
Percent CO2 0.0484% CO2
(expired air)
The height of water column was
determined by utilizing a ruler then it
was converted to mmHg by using 13.6
mmH2O as a conversion factor then the
partial pressure of the carbon dioxide
was found together with its percentage.
According to Kerr (2016), air is a mixture
of gases, primarily nitrogen (N 2; 78.6
percent), oxygen (O2; 20.9 percent),
water vapor (H2O; 0.5 percent), and
carbon dioxide (CO2; 0.04 percent).
Each gas component of that mixture
exerts a pressure. The pressure for an
individual gas in the mixture is the partial
pressure of that gas. Approximately 21
percent of atmospheric gas is oxygen.
Carbon dioxide, however, is found in
relatively small amounts, 0.04 percent.
The partial pressure for oxygen is much
greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Sodium hydroxide was used because it
reacts with carbon dioxide to form
sodium bicarbonate.
Conclusion
In determining the partial
pressure of gases, it is important to
understand Dalton’s law of Partial
Pressures. This law states that the total
pressure of a mixture of gasses is the
sum of the partial pressure of individual
gas. This can be determined by
analyzing the composition of the
atmosphere and measuring the
atmospheric pressure. In conclusion of
this experiment, with the application of
Dalton’s law of partial pressure, we were
able to verify that among the gases
comprising the atmosphere, nitrogen,
having 68.98%, oxygen, having
31.006% and lastly, carbon dioxide,
having 0.01974% that nitrogen is the
most abundant gas and carbon dioxide
is the least abundant gas in the
atmosphere. Also, in conducting the
second part of the experiment, it was
concluded that in expired air, the
percentage of CO2 is 0.048% and its
partial pressure was determined to be
0.3676 mmHg, proving that carbon
dioxide is the least abundant gas.
References
Boyer, PK., Bailey CV. (n.d).
Concentration of Carbon Dioxide in
Expired Air. Arch Intern Med (Chic).
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exchange-in-animals/
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https://earthhow.com/earth-atmosphere-
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