alleryStart learning →When you inhale, your chest cavity expands. What happens to the pressure inside your lungs?
AIt rises above outside air pressure
BIt stays exactly equal to outside air
CIt falls below outside air pressure
DIt doubles as the lung volume grows
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. It falls below outside air pressure
1. The diaphragm and rib muscles contract on inhaling, which enlarges the chest cavity and the lungs.
2. By Boyle's law, a larger volume at fixed amount and temperature means a lower pressure.
3. Air then flows from the higher outside pressure into the lower pressure lungs.
4. Exhaling reverses the cycle: the lungs shrink, pressure rises above outside air, and air flows out.
_Source: OpenStax Chemistry (CC BY 4.0), Ch 9 "Gases", section 9.2 Relating Pressure, Volume, Amount, and Temperature: The Ideal Gas Law_
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