Dalton's Law

A decompression chamber is used if scuba divers
build up too much nitrogren in their blood

The total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of all the contained gases partial pressures. This is the law discovered by chemist John Dalton. Knowing Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures is important. How is this law used in the real world? Scuba divers use Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures to understand how the air in their tanks is affected at different pressures due to the varying depths. If divers reach certain depths the mixture of gases can be very dangerous. The main reason is too much nitrogen enters the diver’s blood stream. If this happens the diver will have to enter a pressure chamber to decompress. You also learned that Dalton’s Law is used to determine the concentration of gases in Earth’s atmosphere.

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