Carbon monoxide (CO) affects the oxygen carrying capacity of your lungs. CO comp
ID: 913898 • Letter: C
Question
Carbon monoxide (CO) affects the oxygen carrying capacity of your lungs. CO competes with oxygen for one of the four iron sites of your blood’s hemoglobin molecules. In fact, CO has about a 210-times stronger affinity for these sites than oxygen. Exposure to 50 ppm CO for 90 minutes has been found to impair one’s ability to time/interval discriminate; thus, motorist in heavily polluted areas may be more prone to accidents. Predict whether motorist at a greater risk to accidents if the CO concentration is 65 mg/m3? Assume a temperature of 298 K
Explanation / Answer
T = 298 K
ppm = mg per kg
therefore
ppm = 50 mg of CO per kg of air
find concnetration
density of air at 298 K
D = 1.177 kg/m3
then
1/1.177 = 0.8496176 m3/kg
if we have 1 kg basis then we need 0.8496176 m3
therefore
1 kg of air = 0.8496176 m3
which means
50 mg are present in those 0.8496176 m3
50 mg/0.8496176 m3 = 58.850 ppm
that is the limit
therefore
65 mg/m3 is too high since 58.8 is the limit,
This is hazardous for health