How Boyle's Law Relates to Respiratory Care

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This paper is going to discuss Boyle’s Law and how it relates to respiratory care. It will define what the law is, how it works, and why it is important to us. We use this law every day without even thinking about it. So many of our everyday activities and actions are related to certain gas laws that have been built into our lives at home and at work. Without many of the gas laws we would not have the advancements that we have today. Boyle’s Law has had a very important role in our lives. It is the reason why we have the medical technology that we have today and why it keeps improving. Because of Boyle’s law, the medical profession saves lives and improves lives every day.
In the 1600’s Robert Boyle from Ireland explained the relationship between pressure and volume of a gas, which is now known as, Boyle’s Law. Boyle’s law states a volume of gas varies inversely proportional to its pressure at a constant temperature. The equation for Boyle’s law is written as P1 X V1 = P2 X V2 (Jardins 2013), which is used to calculate the settings on ventilators and other respiratory machines. For patients on ventilators this is one of the ways they can get help when they can’t breathe for themselves and need to get oxygen into the lungs. It also removes carbon dioxide from the body and helps patients breathe easier when they have to put a lot of effort into breathing. A ventilator blows the air into your airway through a breathing tube. One end of the tube is inserted into your windpipe and the other end is attached to the ventilator. The breathing tube serves as an airway by letting air and oxygen from the ventilator flow into the lungs (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2011). This helps the patient that is struggling t...

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... every day to help patients that have pneumonia, COPD, strokes, brain injuries or drug overdoses. Boyle’s law has helped make the advances in the medical care that we have now, and it will continue to help advance not only the medical field but in our day to day living. Without Boyle’s knowledge we would not have the medical care that we have today. This law has touched every aspect of our lives, whether it’s blowing up a balloon or helping a patient breath.

Works Cited

Jardinds, T. (2013). Cardiopulmonary anatomy & physiology. (sixth edition ed., pp. 84-85). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.
Kacmarek, R. (2013). Fundamentals of respiratory care. (10th edition ed., p. 439). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier Mosby.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2011, Febuary 01). Explore ventilators. Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/vent/

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