Why do mountain climbers use oxygen tanks?

Question

Please help me on this question on my homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Short answer: To make up for the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes. Too little oxygen would cause disorientation and poor brain function above about 10,000 feet, unconsciousness above about 18,000 feet, and death at altitudes above about 24,000 feet.

Long answer:

The atmosphere of the earth is made up of a mixture of gasses -- most of it is nitrogen (about 78% of it), the most important part to humans and animals is the oxygen (about 21%), and the rest (a fraction of a percent each of carbon dioxide and some other gasses) are mostly irrelevant to humans.

The pressure of this mixture of gas changes as you change altitude -- when you go up high into the air (by climbing a mountain or getting in an airplane, etc) there is less air above you "pushing down" due to gravity, so the air you are breathing is under less pressure.

At sea level, where the air is at one "atmosphere" of pressure, and 21 percent of the air is oxygen, you have a 21% "partial pressure of oxygen." If you went up high enough to where the air was at only half the pressure it is at sea level, even though the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen is about the same there is only 50% as much pressure, so your "partial pressure of oxygen" is 50% of 21%, or about 11.5%.

You body's life functions depend on the "partial pressure" of oxygen in the air you breathe. Your body works best at about 15% to 25% partial pressure of oxygen. Below about 15% partial pressure of oxygen you begin to have some problems with concentration and physical co-oridination, below 10% partial pressure of oxygen you loose consciousness, and below about 7% partial pressure of oxygen you will die from asphyxiation (these percentages are not exact, they are what I remember off the top of my head). Of course, high up on a mountain you don't need to fall below 8% partial pressure of oxygen to die -- if you become unconscois you will freeze to death, and even if you just become uncoordinated or suffer impaired judgement, you can fall to your death.

So, mountain climbers carry tanks full of pure oxygen that they ADD to the low-pressure air they are breathing. This means they are now breathing air that is (for example) now technically say 30% oxygen based on the total amount of oxygen, nitrogen, and other gasses -- but since it is at only half the pressure of sea level, they are getting 50% of 30%, or 15% partial pressure of oxygen -- enough to stay conscious and stay alive, even though they are not getting quite as much "partial pressure" of oxygen as their bodies would really like. That is part of why they get so tired up there, the oxygen still isn't enough to keep them functioning for long periods of time, just enough to keep them functioning long enough to get up there then come back down.

This is also why they pressurize the cabins in modern jet airplanes -- they fly at altitudes of about 35,000 feet and the partial pressure of oxygen up there is not enough to keep you (and the pilot) alive, much less conscious and mentally alert, So they use a small bit of the engine's power to pressurize thae air inside the airplane, raising the partial pressure back up to the level that you body wants. A failure of this pressurization system is what happened to golf legend Payne Stewart and the flight crew of his airplane in 1999, killing all aboard. In modern jet airliners, those masks that the cabin crew tell you about in the safety briefing will supply you with enough oxygen to stay alive and conscious in the event that the airplane loses pressurization. Just like the montain climbers, it is just some extra oxygen to ADD to the low-pressure air you are breathing, thus raising the partial pressure (this is why they tell you the bag won't inflate all the way -- it is not THAT much oxygen).

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BTW, a related but opposite problem happens to SCUBA divers: Every 33 feet that a diver goes under the surface of the sea adds another "atmosphere" of pressure on their body, the air in their lungs, etc. The air they are breathing is usually a tank full of regular air that was compressed at about sea level, so it is the same 21% oxygen as people normally breathe. But say you go 66 feet under the water -- now that air is at 3 times normal pressure, so the "partial pressure" of the oxygen is 3 x 21% - 63% partial pressure. If you keep going down to about the 5 atmospheres point (about 130 feet), you begin encountering a problem called "oxygen toxicity" where there is SO MUCH "partial pressure" of oxygen (over 100% partial pressure) that the oxygen actually begins doing you harm. Divers who specialise in deep diving use special mixes of gas to prevent this problem and problems with "the bends" (bubbles forming in their blood as they surface) and "nitrogen narcosis" (where the normall-inert nitrogen starts reacting with your body chemistry and messing up your brain, making it like you are drunk).

Answer 2

Mountain Climbing Oxygen

Answer 3

They need the extra oxygen because they are climbing into high altitudes. The higher the altitude the less oxygen there is in the air. If they go high enough they can end up passing out so they use oxygen tanks to help them breathe.

Answer 4

Oxygen level decreases the higher the elevation is because as you know, when you get to outer space there is almost no oxygen. Therefore, when you are raised to a higher elevation, you are getting closer to outer space...which obviously means the oxygen level is decreasing. Since we are humans and most of us are brought up in a normal environment where oxygen is plentiful; when we enter high elevations..the lack of oxygen can get to us sicne we are not taking in enough oxygen-causing risks of uneasiness or of fainting-which may cause serious damage to your body...especially on a mountain!

Answer 5

Short answer: To make up for the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes. Too little oxygen would cause disorientation and poor brain function above about 10,000 feet, unconsciousness above about 18,000 feet, and death at altitudes above about 24,000 feet.

Long answer:

The atmosphere of the earth is made up of a mixture of gasses -- most of it is nitrogen (about 78% of it), the most important part to humans and animals is the oxygen (about 21%), and the rest (a fraction of a percent each of carbon dioxide and some other gasses) are mostly irrelevant to humans.

Answer 6

The higher u go the less oxygen in the air

Answer 7

the higher up you go the thinner the air gets (so the less oxygen) this causes you to not be able to work as hard or fast because your muscles need oxygen to work it is not impossable to climb without tanks though. I'm pretty sure people have climbed mt. everest without

Answer 8

As you get to a higher altitude the air thins out. Basically less oxygen to breath. So they use them so they in essence don't suffocate.

Answer 9

because there is less oxygen at higher altitudes and up high on a mountain they may suffer from oxygen deprivation and they could pass out

Answer 10

The air gets thinner with altitude and therefore contains less oxygen.

Answer 11

the air gets less dense causing the air not to have the amount of air we need . The air is so tin that we cannot braeathe the right way. The oxygen masks give the right amount of air we need.