Breathing air that contains 4.0 % by volume CO2 over time causes rapid breathing, throbbing headache, and nausea, among other symptoms. What is the concentration of CO2 in such air in terms of (a) mol percentage,

Verified step by step guidance

1. Start by understanding that the problem provides the concentration of CO2 as a volume percentage, which is 4.0% by volume.
2. Recall that for gases, volume percentage is equivalent to mole percentage under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, due to Avogadro's law.
3. Since the volume percentage is given as 4.0%, the mole percentage of CO2 is also 4.0%.
4. This is because, under the same conditions, equal volumes of gases contain an equal number of moles.
5. Therefore, the concentration of CO2 in terms of mole percentage is the same as the volume percentage, which is 4.0%.

Key Concepts

Mole Fraction and Mol Percentage

Mole fraction is a way of expressing the concentration of a component in a mixture, defined as the ratio of the number of moles of that component to the total number of moles of all components. Mol percentage is simply the mole fraction multiplied by 100, providing a percentage representation of the component's concentration in the mixture.

Gas Laws

Gas laws describe the behavior of gases in relation to pressure, volume, and temperature. Understanding these laws, particularly Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures, is essential for analyzing gas mixtures, as it states that the total pressure of a gas mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of each individual gas.

Volume Percent Concentration

Volume percent concentration expresses the amount of a substance in a mixture as a percentage of the total volume. In the context of gases, it indicates the volume of a specific gas relative to the total volume of the gas mixture, which is particularly useful for understanding the composition of air and its effects on health.