The adult blue whale has a lung capacity 5.0\times10^3 5.0 Ã 10 3 l. calculate the mass of air (assume an average molar mass of 28.98 g/mol) contained in an adult blue whale's lungs at 0.0^\circ c 0.0 â c and 1.0 atm, assuming the air behaves ideally.
For this item, we need to assume that air behaves like that of an ideal gas. Ideal gases follow the ideal gas law which can be written as follow, PV = nRT where P is the pressure, V is the volume, n is the number of mols, R is the universal gas constant, and T is temperature
In this item, we are to determine first the number of moles, n. We derive the equation, n = PV /RT Substitute the given values,
n = (1 atm)(5 x 10³ L) / (0.0821 L.atm/mol.K)(0 + 273.15) n = 223.08 mols
From the given molar mass, we calculate for the mass of air. m = (223.08 mols)(28.98 g/mol) = 6464.9 g
