When we breathe, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide plus water vapor. Which likely has more mass, the air that we inhale or the same volume of air we exhale? Does breathing cause you to lose or gain weight?

Question

Jenny

Physics

21 September, 09:42

When we breathe, we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide plus water vapor. Which likely has more mass, the air that we inhale or the same volume of air we exhale? Does breathing cause you to lose or gain weight?

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Answers (1)

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William Kaufman · Answer 1

If the same volume of air is inhaled and exhaled, the air we breathe out normally weighs more than the air we breathe in.

Since the output from the body normally exceeds the input, breathing leads to weight loss.

Explanation:

If equal volumes of gas is inhaled and exhaled, the exhaled gas is heavier.

The inhaled gas contains Oxygen and majorly Nitrogen.

The exhaled gas contains CO₂, H₂O and a very large fraction of the unused inhaled air that goes into the lungs.

So, basically, the body exchanges O₂ with CO₂ and H₂O (and some other unwanted gases in the body) in a composition that CO₂, the heavier gas of the ones mentioned here, is prominent.

So, because the mass leaving the body is more than the mass entering, breathing leads to a loss of weight. This is one of the reasons why we need food for sustenance. Breathing alone will wear one out.