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ERIC Number: EJ1248327
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Mar
Pages: 2
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Breathtaking Physics: Human Respiration as a Heat Engine
Lipscombe, Trevor C.; Mungan, Carl E.
Physics Teacher, v58 n3 p150-151 Mar 2020
Breathing is something we all do, usually without thinking about it. But when viewed through the lens of physics, respiration becomes an example of elementary thermodynamics. As shown here, the lungs can be modeled as a two-stroke heat engine. Breathing thereby provides a novel physics application for life science students, demonstrating the basics of the first law of thermodynamics, coefficient of performance, and hysteresis.
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://aapt.scitation.org/journal/pte
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A