{"id":191013,"date":"2025-02-14T05:09:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T05:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=191013"},"modified":"2025-02-14T05:09:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T05:09:31","slug":"the-atmospheric-pressure-on-the-top-of-mt-everest-an-altitude-of-29035-ft-is-only-259-9-mm-hg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/14\/the-atmospheric-pressure-on-the-top-of-mt-everest-an-altitude-of-29035-ft-is-only-259-9-mm-hg\/","title":{"rendered":"The atmospheric pressure on the top of Mt Everest, an altitude of 29,035 ft, is only 259.9 mm Hg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The atmospheric pressure on the top of Mt Everest, an altitude of 29,035 ft, is only 259.9 mm Hg.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 What is the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs at this altitude (assuming that the % O2\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 is the same as in dry air, 20.88%)? Report the pressure to the tenths of a mm Hg without units.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 \u00c3\u201a\u00c2<br>The atmospheric pressure on the top of Mt. Everest, an altitude of 29,035 ft, is only 259.9 mm Hg.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 What is the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs at this altitude (assuming that the % O2\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 is the same as in dry air, 20.88%)? Report the pressure to the tenths of a mm Hg without units.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 \u00c3\u201a\u00c2<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-6-color\"><strong>The Correct Answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To calculate the partial pressure of oxygen at the top of Mt. Everest, we use the equation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[<br>P_{O_2} = (\\text{fraction of } O_2) \\times (\\text{total atmospheric pressure})<br>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Atmospheric pressure at Everest\u2019s summit = <strong>259.9 mm Hg<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oxygen percentage in dry air = <strong>20.88% = 0.2088<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>[<br>P_{O_2} = 0.2088 \\times 259.9<br>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[<br>P_{O_2} \\approx 54.3<br>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Answer: 54.3<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Explanation:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Partial pressure refers to the individual contribution of a specific gas in a mixture to the total pressure. Since oxygen makes up about 20.88% of dry atmospheric air, its partial pressure is determined by multiplying this fraction by the total atmospheric pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At sea level, where atmospheric pressure is <strong>760 mm Hg<\/strong>, the partial pressure of oxygen is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[<br>P_{O_2} = 0.2088 \\times 760 = 158.8 \\text{ mm Hg}<br>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, at high altitudes, the atmospheric pressure drops due to lower air density. At <strong>29,035 feet<\/strong>, the pressure on Everest is <strong>259.9 mm Hg<\/strong>, meaning significantly less oxygen is available. The calculation above shows that the partial pressure of oxygen drops to <strong>54.3 mm Hg<\/strong>, which is about <strong>one-third of the sea level value<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This drastic reduction in oxygen availability is why climbers experience <strong>hypoxia<\/strong> (oxygen deprivation), leading to altitude sickness, confusion, weakness, and even life-threatening conditions if unacclimatized. This also explains why most climbers use <strong>supplemental oxygen<\/strong> to maintain adequate oxygen levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human body compensates by increasing breathing rate (hyperventilation), heart rate, and producing more red blood cells over time. However, immediate exposure to such low oxygen levels can cause severe altitude sickness, leading to impaired judgment, dizziness, and even death if untreated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This calculation is essential in <strong>high-altitude medicine<\/strong> and <strong>mountaineering physiology<\/strong>, as it helps predict the risks associated with extreme altitudes and the importance of oxygen supplementation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The atmospheric pressure on the top of Mt Everest, an altitude of 29,035 ft, is only 259.9 mm Hg.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 What is the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs at this altitude (assuming that the % O2\u00c3\u201a\u00c2 is the same as in dry air, 20.88%)? Report the pressure to the tenths of a mm Hg [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}