There are about as many atoms of air in our lungs at any moment as there are breaths of air in the atmosphere of
A)a large auditorium.
B)a large city.
C)North America.
D)the whole world.
If all the atoms exhaled by Isaac Newton in his last dying breath are still in the atmosphere, then we breathe about one of those atoms with each
E)single breath.
F)day of breathing.
G)month of breathing.
H)year of breathing.
I)none, for some people may inhale Newton's atoms occasionally while others may take years.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The correct answers are based on the concepts of Avogadro's number and the vast number of molecules in gases. The number of atoms in a single breath is so large that when dispersed in the atmosphere, it's statistically likely for at least one of those atoms to be in any breath we take, hence the comparison to the whole world's atmosphere for the first part. For the second part, given the constant mixing of the atmosphere, it's statistically likely that we inhale at least one atom from any given breath exhaled centuries ago with each breath we take.

There Are About as Many Atoms of Air in Our