Question

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.

Answer 1

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

ANSWER: 6464.9 g