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What planet are you on? As far as I know the air at altitude still contains 21% O2. >> Here on Earth, this is true. << Perhaps we're confusing FO2 with PO2? >> Hardly. I'm not confused. The fractional gas components (fg) of air are indeed nearly CONSTANT -- far above any elevation that could or would be possible for high altitude diving. However, this is not true for the partial pressures of each gas component (pg) of air. The partial gas pressures, pg, DECREASE as a function of an increase in altitude. For example, at sea level, the fractional gas components of air are approximately 21% for oxygen and 79% for nitrogen. Other trace gases for this presentation are considered to be negligible. The partial pressures are 0.21 and 0.79 atmospheres absolute (ata) respectively for oxygen and nitrogen. At 10,000 feet above mean sea level, the fractional parts are still 21% and 79% for oxygen and nitrogen. However, the partial pressures of each gas are DIMINISHED. At 10,000 feet elevation, the partial pressures for oxygen and nitrogen are approximately 0.14 ata and 0.54 ata respectively. Cheers, Joan << Cheers, JD Selser -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@terra.net'. Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver- request@te*.ne*'.
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