# A container under 2558*"psi" pressure contains carbon dioxide and whose partial pressure is 54.6*"bar" and NO_2? What is P_(NO_2) in atmospheres?

May 25, 2017

The sum of the partial pressures is equal to the total pressure.

#### Explanation:

$\text{Dalton's Law of partial pressures}$ holds that in a gaseous mixture, the total pressure is the sum of the individual partial pressures; i.e. the sum of the pressures of the components if they ALONE occupied the container.

You have a real dog's breakfast of pressure terms here that can only have come from the US of A.

Anyway the total pressure is...................

${P}_{\text{Total"=2558*"psi"=(2558*"psi")/(14.7*"psi"*atm^-1)=174*atm=174*"bar................................}}$

which is a prodigiously high pressure. (Note that $1 \cdot \text{bar}$ is as near as dammit equal to $1 \cdot a t m$).

Now ${P}_{\text{Total}} = {P}_{N {O}_{2}} + {P}_{C {O}_{2}}$

And thus..................................

${P}_{N {O}_{2}} = {P}_{\text{Total}} - {P}_{C {O}_{2}} = \left(174 - 54.6\right) \cdot a t m = 119.4 \cdot a t m$.

These are exceptionally high pressures, and the vessel containing these gases would be exceptionally sturdy.