Question

A gas mixture containing oxygen, nitrogen, and neon exerts a total pressure of $1.20atm$. If helium added to the mixture increases the pressure to $1.50atm$, what is the partial pressure, in atmospheres, of the helium?

Short answer

The partial pressure of helium is$0.3atm$

Step-by-step solution

Given Information

We need to find the the partial pressure of helium.

Simplify

In a gas, mixture, each gas exerts its partial pressure, which is the pressure it would exert if it were the gas in the container. Dalton's law that the total pressure of a gas mixture is the sum of the partial pressures of the gases in the mixture.

Total pressure $P_{total}=1.5atm$

$P_o+P_N+P_{Ne}=1.2atm$

role="math" localid="1652625892145" $$\begin{gathered} P_{total}=P_o+P_{He}+P_N+P_{Ne} \\ {P}_{He}=P_{total}-P_N-P_o-P_{Ne} \\ =1.5atm-1.2atm=0.3atm \end{gathered}$$