How are people able to breathe inside a submarine?
The air we breathe is made up of significant quantities of four gases: • Nitrogen (78%) • Oxygen (21%) • Argon (0.94%) • Carbon dioxide (0.04%) When we breathe in air, our bodies consume its oxygen and convert it to carbon dioxide. Exhaled air contains about 4.5-percent carbon dioxide. Our bodies do not do anything with nitrogen or argon. A submarine (or a space ship , for that matter) is a sealed container that contains people and a limited supply of air. There are three things that must happen in order to keep air in a submarine breathable: • Oxygen has to be replenished as it is consumed. If the percentage of oxygen in the air falls too low, a person suffocates. • Carbon dioxide must be removed from the air. As the concentration of carbon dioxide rises, it becomes a toxin. • The moisture that we exhale in our breath must be removed. Oxygen is supplied either from pressurized tanks, an oxygen generator (which can form oxygen from the electrolysis of water or by some other means) or s
The air we breathe is made up of significant quantities of four gases: • Nitrogen (78%) • Oxygen (21%) • Argon (0.94%) • Carbon dioxide (0.04%) When we breathe in air, our bodies consume its oxygen and convert it to carbon dioxide. Exhaled air contains about 4.5-percent carbon dioxide. Our bodies do not do anything with nitrogen or argon. A submarine (or a space ship , for that matter) is a sealed container that contains people and a limited supply of air. There are three things that must happen in order to keep air in a submarine breathable: • Oxygen has to be replenished as it is consumed. If the percentage of oxygen in the air falls too low, a person suffocates. • Carbon dioxide must be removed from the air. As the concentration of carbon dioxide rises, it becomes a toxin. • The moisture that we exhale in our breath must be removed. Oxygen is supplied either from pressurized tanks, an oxygen generator (which can form oxygen from the electrolysis of water or by some other means) or s
