What does the air we breathe contain? Research project "The air I breathe" The air that is so necessary for breathing is

First, it’s worth understanding what the air we breathe consists of. Its main component for us is oxygen (21%). The main element is nitrogen (78%). The remaining share belongs to argon, carbon dioxide with a content in the air of about 0.04% and other elements and compounds.

Violation of the air composition can create problems for our body. The most common of them are high concentrations of CO, CO₂ and the presence of volatiles in the air. organic matter(VOC).

It is because of the increased content of carbon dioxide that we feel sick in a crowded room, and VOC is the reason that our head begins to hurt when we inhale the smell of paint or exhaust fumes.

VOC are those chemical compounds, which exist in the form of gases released from solids and liquid substances, and evaporate easily even at room temperature. Carbon monoxide, methane, alcohol vapors, formaldehyde, acetone, propane, dichloromethane - all this is widely distributed around us in the form of harmful gases. The peculiarity of many of them is that our body is able to detect them only by the sensations caused by these harmful substances, and not by smell.

How to make the air cleaner?

VOC and increased levels of CO and CO₂ cannot be avoided in a large, densely populated city, where cars are driven and renovations are being done in the entrances of houses. But what if you inhale harmful air at home or at work all the time, even when you don’t smell anything? If you feel tired and unwell, cough for no reason and often complain about your health, there is a high probability that the problem is in the air you breathe. In this case, you need to act. Here's what you can do:

Ventilate the room. Simplest, but quite effective method get rid of CO₂ accumulated in the room. Especially recommended for owners gas stoves when cooking.
Buy an air purifier. These devices vary in cleaning method and efficiency. One of the most simple options- air washer that works as a humidifier.
Buy an indoor fern plant. An easy way to reduce carbon dioxide and VOC around you.
Change funds household chemicals . It's ironic, but sometimes we pollute the air while trying to make our apartment cleaner. Those products that are presented as environmentally friendly are often just as harmful as ordinary ones. Proven options will help you avoid harm: baking soda and laundry soap.
Change the hood and check the ventilation. Ventilation systems require maintenance, and indoor hoods may be of poor quality.
Make repairs. A radical way to get rid of toxic paints and harmful materials that you used during previous renovations.
Move or change jobs. If you live near a thermal power plant or a busy highway, other methods of air purification are unlikely to help. Radical measures are needed.

The main thing in any situation is to identify the danger in time. Air quality monitors will help with this - special devices that respond to VOC, CO and CO₂ around us. One of these devices fell into the hands of Lifehacker - the Atmotube 2.0 portable monitor.

What is Atmotube 2.0?

A small tube-shaped gadget that fits in the palm of your hand. On the body with titanium coating There is only one button and an LED. At one end there is a charging socket and a half-ring for fastening, and at the other there is a membrane behind which the sensors are hidden.

The kit includes a USB Type-C charger and a carabiner for attaching Atmotube 2.0 to a backpack lock or keychain.

This simple device works in conjunction with a smartphone via Bluetooth and constantly measures the level of pollution, temperature and humidity. Atmotube reacts to elevated carbon dioxide levels and a wide range of VOCs, instantly alerting the owner if the air quality around them noticeably drops.

Thus, you can forget about the problem of air pollution - you just need to carry the gadget with you, charge it every three to four days and, if necessary, respond to notifications on the screen.

How it works?

The gadget out of the box usually has a slightly discharged battery; first, the manufacturer recommends restoring the charge completely. At this time, you can download and configure the application to work with Atmotube. iOS and Android platforms are supported. After installation, the application will offer to calibrate the device, at which point the preparation stage ends - Atmotube is ready for use.

The simplest air quality indicator is installed in Atmotube itself - it is an LED that lights up in one of five colors when you press a button. If the color is blue or green, everything is fine; if it is yellow, orange or red, the air is polluted.

The application shows more detailed information: pollution index calculated from the concentration of VOC and CO in the air, as well as their content in ppm. The index takes values from 1 to 100: the more harmful the air, the less number. When the index drops below 40, Atmotube sends a notification. You can also monitor the temperature and humidity in the app.

After turning on, Atmotube checks the air every 10 seconds, and after a while it enters energy saving mode and takes measurements less frequently. This approach justifies itself: Atmotube with a 350 mAh battery lasts longer than three days on a single charge.

Atmotube 2.0 does not have its own memory chip, so it is not recommended to break the connection or take the gadget far from the smartphone.

Does this really work?

Atmotube does an excellent job as an air quality monitor. The device quickly reacts to stuffiness or polluted air - even now, looking through the statistics, I can remember how I spent last days. From the first screenshot, I see that at about 9:10 I went for a 20-minute run in the fresh air, and then returned home and soon “inhaled” a little there - the index fell by several positions.

I can reconstruct the events of the previous evening from the second screenshot: at approximately 18:40 I left a well-ventilated office, then drove for 15 minutes in a car, and then sat in a cafe for about two and a half hours. The cafe had good ventilation, but a lot of people, some of whom were smoking hookah. Then there was a short walk - the air quality mark turned blue again.

We also subjected the gadget to an extreme test: we held it over a container with liquid for lighting a fire. Atmotube immediately sensed something was wrong, and in less than two minutes sent a notification about air pollution to the smartphone.

We were not the only ones who were convinced of the effectiveness of the gadget. At first, more than two thousand users of the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo trusted Atmotube, the finished product was celebrated at CES 2017, and then a number of authoritative publications wrote about it, including CNN and TechCrunch.

Who is Atmotube 2.0 suitable for?

An air quality monitor will be useful to every resident of a big city. Stale air in crowded places, exhaust fumes, tobacco smoke, chemical cleaners, fumes from building materials, paints and solvents - all this surrounds us every day. It will not be possible to completely get rid of harmful factors, but we can still do something. For example, change the hood, make repairs, buy indoor plant or at least just ventilate the room. You just need to understand when to act, and this is exactly what a special monitor is needed for.

As a rule, air quality monitors are stationary devices with impressive dimensions that require a network connection. This solution is suitable for home use, but what about that half of the day (at best) that we spend outside the home?

Atmotube 2.0 - perfect solution for those who want to monitor the air quality not only at home, but also in the office, at the dacha or on the way to work. It is compact enough to carry with you, holds a charge for a long time and works with any modern smartphone.

The only caveat: if you are interested in accurate indicators of the CO₂ content in the air, then it is better to purchase a carbon dioxide detector. Atmotube 2.0 reacts to stuffiness caused by a large number of people and detects an increase in CO₂ concentration, but does not provide accurate data in ppm.

Every second any Living being inhales air rich in oxygen and exhales air rich in carbon dioxide. Oxygen from the air will be used up by any combustion process. So why then does the basic composition of air on Earth remain the same? In this lesson we will learn about the constant and variable components of air, how oxygen is replenished in the atmosphere and what dust particles are for.

Topic: Inanimate nature

Lesson: Air is a mixture of gases

We often say “there is an empty glass on the table,” but in fact it is not empty, but filled with air.

Rice. 1. Glass filled with air ()

Air is a mixture of gases. Air contains nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and some other gases. The permanent constituent gases of air are oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. But in addition to permanent gases, there may be impurities in the air, the content of which is not constant. These are water vapor, microbes, particles of smoke, dust and salt, and plant pollen.

To better understand the quantitative composition of air, imagine that 100 liters of air contain 78 liters of nitrogen, 21 liters of oxygen, 1 liter of carbon dioxide and a few other impurities.

Oxygen is necessary for the respiration of humans, animals and plants. Oxygen dissolved in water is consumed during breathing by the inhabitants of water bodies.

A person or animal inhales air containing oxygen and exhales air containing large amounts of carbon dioxide.

You can often hear the phrase “the room is stuffy,” this happens if the room for a long time there was no ventilation and most of the oxygen had already been used up.

Oxygen supports combustion . If you cover a burning candle glass jar, the candle will burn for some time and then go out.

Rice. 4. Burning candle wick ()

This will happen because the burning candle will use up the oxygen in the jar that supported its combustion, but there will be a lot of carbon dioxide.

This experiment proves that oxygen supports combustion. Carbon dioxide is released during any combustion - wood, coal, oil, tobacco, and other flammable substances, and does not support combustion.

Using knowledge about this property of oxygen, we can help a person if his clothes are on fire: it is necessary to cover the fire with thick fabric so that oxygen does not enter.

The composition of the air is constant, this important condition life on Earth. But in all countries of the world, billions of tons of fuel are burned annually, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and consuming oxygen.

Rice. 5. Car exhaust gases ()

The same thing happens in factories and during fires.

People, animals, plants and even microbes breathe and also absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide.

Rice. 7. Breath of a living being ()

But at the same time, the composition of the air on the planet as a whole remains constant. This is the result of the work of green plants, which are the main source of oxygen replenishment on Earth.

In plants, under the influence of sunlight, carbon dioxide and water are formed nutrients and oxygen. The more green plants, the cleaner air, that’s why it’s so easy to breathe in the forest.

As has been said, not all components of air are constant. The presence and quantity of dust particles, plant pollen, salt and other impurities depends on the area and time of year.

These particles come from the smoke of volcanoes, deserts, oceans, soil, flowering plants. At the end of June, for example, poplar fluff appears, and during active flowering of plants, there is a lot of pollen in the air.

Rice. 11. Sea salt particles ()

Breathing polluted air is not good for your health. Although, on the other hand, dust makes our world beautiful: colorful sunsets and sunrises are the result of the reflection of sunlight from dust particles scattered in upper layers atmosphere.

Sunset is usually red - particles of dust and water vapor reflect red Sun rays in such a way that we see them last.

In the center of every raindrop there is a speck of dust that helped the droplet quickly form.

Fogs, clouds and rain consist of many dust particles that are enveloped in liquid.

In the next lesson we will learn about such a natural phenomenon as wind, about the reasons for the movement of air in nature and at home. Let's consider methods for determining the direction and strength of the wind. Let us characterize the role of wind in nature and people’s lives.

Vakhrushev A.A., Danilov D.D. The world 3. M.: Ballas.
Dmitrieva N.Ya., Kazakov A.N. The world around us 3. M.: Fedorov Publishing House.
Pleshakov A.A. The world around us 3. M.: Education.

Encyclopedia around the world ().
Academician ().
Librarian.Ru ().

Prepare a short report on the problem of air pollution and suggest ways to eliminate these problems.
Conduct experiments to prove the properties of oxygen. Describe your actions, observations, results.
*Write a detailed answer to the question “How do green plants maintain balance in the gas composition of the atmosphere?”

We all know very well that without air, not a single living creature can live on earth. Air is vital for all of us. Everyone, from children to adults, knows that it is impossible to survive without air, but not everyone knows what air is and what it consists of. So, air is a mixture of gases that cannot be seen or touched, but we all know very well that it is around us, although we practically do not notice it. To conduct research various nature, including, is possible in our laboratory.

We can only feel air when we feel it strong wind or we are near a fan. What does air consist of? It consists of nitrogen and oxygen, and only a small part of argon, water, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. If we consider the composition of air in percentage, then nitrogen is 78.08 percent, oxygen 20.94%, argon 0.93 percent, carbon dioxide 0.04 percent, neon 1.82 * 10-3 percent, helium 4.6 * 10-4 percent, methane 1.7 * 10-4 percent, krypton 1.14*10-4 percent, hydrogen 5*10-5 percent, xenon 8.7*10-6 percent, nitrous oxide 5*10-5 percent.

The oxygen content in the air is very high because oxygen is necessary for life. human body. Oxygen, which is observed in the air during breathing, enters the cells of the human body and participates in the oxidation process, as a result of which the energy needed for life is released. Also, oxygen, which is present in the air, is required for the combustion of fuel, which produces heat, as well as when receiving mechanical energy in internal combustion engines.

Inert gases are also extracted from air during liquefaction. How much oxygen is in the air, if you look at it as a percentage, then oxygen and nitrogen in the air are 98 percent. Knowing the answer to this question, another question arises, what gaseous substances are still part of the air.

So, in 1754, a scientist named Joseph Black confirmed that air consists of a mixture of gases, and not a homogeneous substance as previously thought. The composition of the air on earth includes methane, argon, carbon dioxide, helium, krypton, hydrogen, neon, and xenon. It is worth noting that the percentage of air may vary slightly depending on where people live.

Unfortunately, in major cities the proportion of carbon dioxide as a percentage will be higher than, for example, in villages or forests. The question arises what percentage of oxygen is in the air in the mountains. The answer is simple, oxygen is much heavier than nitrogen, so there will be much less of it in the air in the mountains, this is because the density of oxygen decreases with altitude.

Level of oxygen in the air

So, regarding the ratio of oxygen in the air, there are certain standards, for example, for working area. In order for a person to be able to fully work, the oxygen level in the air is from 19 to 23 percent. When operating equipment in enterprises, it is necessary to ensure the tightness of the devices, as well as various machines. If, when testing the air in the room where people work, the oxygen level is below 19 percent, then it is imperative to leave the room and turn on emergency ventilation. You can control the level of oxygen in the air at the workplace by inviting the EcoTestExpress laboratory and research.

Let's now define what oxygen is

Oxygen is a chemical element in Mendeleev's periodic table of elements; oxygen has no smell, no taste, no color. Oxygen in the air is extremely necessary for human breathing, as well as for combustion, because it’s no secret that if there is no air, then no materials will burn. Oxygen contains a mixture of three stable nuclides, the mass numbers of which are 16, 17 and 18.

So, oxygen is the most common element on earth, as for the percentage, the largest percentage of oxygen is found in silicates, which is about 47.4 percent of the mass of solids earth's crust. Also in maritime and fresh waters The entire earth contains a huge amount of oxygen, namely 88.8 percent; as for the amount of oxygen in the air, it is only 20.95 percent. It should also be noted that oxygen is part of more than 1,500 compounds in the earth’s crust.

As for the production of oxygen, it is obtained by separating air at low temperatures. This process happens like this: first, air is compressed using a compressor; when compressed, the air begins to heat up. Compressed air let cool until room temperature, and after cooling they ensure its free expansion.

When expansion occurs, the temperature of the gas begins to drop sharply; after the air has cooled, its temperature can be several tens of degrees below room temperature, such air is again subjected to compression and the released heat is removed. After several stages of compressing and cooling the air, a number of other procedures are performed, as a result of which pure oxygen is separated without any impurities.

And here another question arises: what is heavier: oxygen or carbon dioxide. The answer is simply of course carbon dioxide will be heavier than oxygen. The density of carbon dioxide is 1.97 kg/m3, but the density of oxygen, in turn, is 1.43 kg/m3. As for carbon dioxide, it turns out that it plays one of the main roles in the life of all life on earth, and also has an impact on the carbon cycle in nature. It has been proven that carbon dioxide is involved in the regulation of respiration, as well as blood circulation.

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What is carbon dioxide?

Now let’s define in more detail what carbon dioxide is, and also designate the composition of carbon dioxide. So, carbon dioxide in other words is carbon dioxide, it is a colorless gas with a slightly sour odor and taste. As for air, the concentration of carbon dioxide in it is 0.038 percent. Physical properties carbon dioxide is that it does not exist in liquid state under normal conditions atmospheric pressure, but passes directly from the solid state to the gaseous state.

Carbon dioxide in solid form is also called dry ice. Today, carbon dioxide is a participant global warming. Carbon dioxide is produced by burning various substances. It is worth noting that when industrial production carbon dioxide is pumped into cylinders. Carbon dioxide pumped into cylinders is used as fire extinguishers, as well as in the production of carbonated water, and is also used in pneumatic weapons. And also in the food industry as a preservative.

Composition of inhaled and exhaled air

Now let's look at the composition of inhaled and exhaled air. First, let's define what breathing is. Respiration is a complex, continuous process through which the gas composition of the blood is constantly renewed. The composition of inhaled air is 20.94 percent oxygen, 0.03 percent carbon dioxide and 79.03 percent nitrogen. But the composition of exhaled air is only 16.3 percent oxygen, as much as 4 percent carbon dioxide and 79.7 percent nitrogen.

You can notice that the inhaled air differs from the exhaled air in the oxygen content, as well as in the amount of carbon dioxide. These are the substances that make up the air we breathe and exhale. Thus, our body is saturated with oxygen and releases all unnecessary carbon dioxide outside.

Dry oxygen improves electrical as well as protective properties films due to the absence of water, as well as their compaction and reduction of volume charge. Also, dry oxygen under normal conditions cannot react with gold, copper or silver. To spend chemical analysis air or other laboratory test, including, can be done in our EcoTestExpress laboratory.

Air is the atmosphere of the planet on which we live. And we always have the question of what is included in the air, the answer is simply a set of gases, as it was already described above which gases are in the air and in what proportion. As for the content of gases in the air, everything is easy and simple; the percentage ratio for almost all areas of our planet is the same.

Composition and properties of air

Air consists not only of a mixture of gases, but also of various aerosols and vapors. Percentage composition air is the ratio of nitrogen, oxygen and other gases in the air. So, how much oxygen is in the air, the simple answer is just 20 percent. Component composition gas, as for nitrogen, it contains the lion's share of all air, and it is worth noting that at elevated pressure nitrogen begins to have narcotic properties.

This is of no small importance, because when divers work, they often have to work at depths under enormous pressure. Much has been said about oxygen because it is of great importance for human life on our planet. It is worth noting that a person’s inhalation of air with increased oxygen for a short period does not have a detrimental effect on the person himself.

But if a person inhales air from increased level oxygen for a long time, this will lead to pathological changes in the body. Another main component of air, about which much has already been said, is carbon dioxide, as it turns out that a person cannot live without it as well as without oxygen.

If there was no air on earth, then not a single living organism would be able to live on our planet, much less function somehow. Unfortunately, in modern world a huge number of industrial facilities that pollute our air, in Lately they are increasingly calling for what needs to be protected environment and also monitor the cleanliness of the air. Therefore, you should take frequent measurements of the air to determine how clean it is. If it seems to you that the air in your room is not clean enough and this is to blame external factors You can always contact the EcoTestExpress laboratory, which will conduct all the necessary tests (research) and give a conclusion on the purity of the air you inhale.

Let's make a reservation right away: nitrogen in the air takes up most, however chemical composition the remaining share is very interesting and varied. In short, the list of main elements is as follows.

However, we will also give some explanations on the functions of these chemical elements.

1. Nitrogen

The nitrogen content in the air is 78% by volume and 75% by mass, that is, this element dominates in the atmosphere, has the title of one of the most common on Earth, and, in addition, is found outside the human habitation zone - on Uranus, Neptune and in interstellar spaces. So, we have already figured out how much nitrogen is in the air, but the question remains about its function. Nitrogen is necessary for the existence of living beings, it is part of:

proteins;
amino acids;
nucleic acids;
chlorophyll;
hemoglobin, etc.

On average, about 2% of a living cell consists of nitrogen atoms, which explains why there is so much nitrogen in the air as a percentage of volume and mass.
Nitrogen is also one of the noble gases produced from atmospheric air. Ammonia is synthesized from it and used for cooling and other purposes.

2. Oxygen

The oxygen content in the air is one of the most popular questions. Keeping the intrigue, let's distract ourselves with one fun fact: Oxygen was discovered twice - in 1771 and 1774, but due to differences in publications of the discovery, the honor of discovering the element went to the English chemist Joseph Priestley, who actually isolated oxygen second. So, the proportion of oxygen in the air fluctuates around 21% by volume and 23% by mass. Together with nitrogen, these two gases form 99% of all earth's air. However, the percentage of oxygen in the air is less than nitrogen, and yet we do not experience breathing problems. The fact is that the amount of oxygen in the air is optimally calculated specifically for normal breathing, in pure form this gas acts on the body like poison and leads to difficulties in working nervous system, respiratory and circulatory problems. At the same time, the lack of oxygen also negatively affects health, causing oxygen starvation and all the unpleasant symptoms associated with it. Therefore, how much oxygen is contained in the air is what is needed for healthy, full breathing.

3. Argon

Argon ranks third in the air; it is odorless, colorless and tasteless. Significant biological role This gas has not been detected, but it has a narcotic effect and is even considered doping. Argon extracted from the atmosphere is used in industry, medicine, to create an artificial atmosphere, chemical synthesis, fire extinguishing, creating lasers, etc.

4. Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide makes up the atmosphere of Venus and Mars; its percentage in the earth's air is much lower. At the same time, a huge amount of carbon dioxide is contained in the ocean, it is regularly supplied by all breathing organisms, and is released due to the work of industry. In human life, carbon dioxide is used in fire fighting, the food industry as a gas and as food supplement E290 – preservative and leavening agent. In solid form, carbon dioxide is one of the most well-known refrigerants, “dry ice.”

5. Neon

That same mysterious light of disco lights, bright signs and modern headlights is the fifth most common chemical element, which is also inhaled by humans – neon. Like many inert gases, neon has a narcotic effect on humans at a certain pressure, but it is this gas that is used in the training of divers and other people working at high pressure. Also, neon-helium mixtures are used in medicine for respiratory disorders; neon itself is used for cooling, in the production of signal lights and those same neon lamps. However, contrary to the stereotype, neon light is not blue, but red. All other colors are produced by lamps with other gases.

6. Methane

Methane and air have very ancient history: in the primordial atmosphere, even before the appearance of man, methane was in more. Now extracted and used as fuel and raw material in manufacturing, this gas is not as widespread in the atmosphere, but is still released from the Earth. Modern research establishes the role of methane in the respiration and vital functions of the human body, but there is no authoritative data on this yet.

7. Helium

Having looked at how much helium is in the air, anyone will understand that this gas is not one of the most important. Indeed, it is difficult to determine the biological significance of this gas. Apart from the funny distortion of the voice when inhaling helium from a balloon :) However, helium is widely used in industry: in metallurgy, the food industry, for filling aircraft and weather probes, in lasers, nuclear reactors etc.

8. Krypton

We are not talking about the homeland of Superman :) Krypton is an inert gas that is three times heavier than air, chemically inert, extracted from air, used in incandescent lamps, lasers and is still being actively studied. From interesting properties krypton, it is worth noting that at a pressure of 3.5 atmospheres it has a narcotic effect on humans, and at 6 atmospheres it acquires a pungent odor.

9. Hydrogen

Hydrogen in the air occupies 0.00005% by volume and 0.00008% by mass, but at the same time it is the most common element in the Universe. It is quite possible to write a separate article about its history, production and application, so now we will limit ourselves to a small list of industries: chemical, fuel, food industry, aviation, meteorology, electric power.

10. Xenon

The latter is a component of air, which was initially considered only an admixture of krypton. Its name translates as “alien”, and the percentage of its content both on Earth and beyond its borders is minimal, which determined its high cost. Nowadays they cannot do without xenon: the production of powerful and pulse sources light, diagnostics and anesthesia in medicine, spacecraft engines, rocket fuel. In addition, when inhaled, xenon significantly lowers the voice (the opposite effect of helium), and recently inhalation of this gas has been included in the list of doping agents.

Oxygen is simply necessary for us to live. Without it, a person cannot last even five minutes. We are so accustomed to our breathing that we don’t even notice how it happens. But in fact, this is difficult process, worked to perfection. So what is so important that happens to air when it enters our body?

Every cell in the human body requires a constant supply of energy to stay alive and perform its function. Cells receive the bulk of their energy through the processing of substances that occurs with the participation of oxygen. This process is called cellular respiration. As a result, a lot of energy is released and carbon dioxide is formed - a harmful product of metabolic processes that must be removed from the body.

Through the nose, air enters the nasopharynx, in which the paths of food and air coincide. Food should go into the esophagus and air into the larynx. Touch your neck with your hand, you will feel the larynx tube. Inside it is the epiglottis - a special soft outgrowth. It works as a regulator - it closes the entrance to the larynx when swallowing. If you talk and eat at the same time, the epiglottis may not cope with its job. So you can choke!

The air then moves through the trachea, a reinforced tube. The mucus in the trachea traps dust and other particulate matter that can damage our lungs. And the cilia covering the walls of the trachea drive this dirt up into the throat. This is why when we breathe dusty air, we feel like coughing. At the bottom, the trachea is divided into two branches - the bronchus, each of which enters the right and left halves of the lungs. There the bronchi branch into narrower tubes, the smallest of which end in millions air bubbles. Due to the very thin shell, gases pass through them easily. The lungs are made up of such bubbles, resembling a porous sponge.

The lungs are located in the chest cavity on either side of the heart. They are protected by a movable rib cage formed by the ribs, sternum and spine. The lungs are covered on top thin film. There is a liquid underneath that reduces friction. Therefore, when you inhale and exhale, the lungs move, but do not make sounds. Wheezing occurs in them only as a result of illness.

Lungs act as a point of exchange fresh air, which we inhaled, into waste carbon dioxide to exhale. And the carrier of air is blood. Capturing oxygen from the lungs, it rushes to deliver it to every cell of our body. And it also returns unnecessary accumulated carbon dioxide to the lungs.

When we inhale, our ribs rise and expand. The muscle underneath the lungs, called the diaphragm, straightens. Air fills the lungs. When you exhale, the ribs narrow. The diaphragm rises up and the exhaust gases are pushed out.

Although the total volume of the lungs is 5 liters, breathing requires only half a liter of air. The rest is distributed as follows: 1.5 liters is the residual volume of air so that the lungs are never empty, and 3 liters is the reserve for maximum inhalation and exhalation.

We take 1000 breaths per hour, 26,000 per day, 9 million per year. The well-being, health and life expectancy of a person depend on proper breathing. It is important to learn to breathe evenly and deeply. After all, the lungs are an organ that, like muscles, must be constantly trained!