Sealed Big
Posted on Saturday, February 3rd, 2007 at 10:32 pmSealed Big
How long can you breath in a small, very sealed box?
Just big enough for someone small to sit down in with their legs almost all the way stretched out and torso hugging the thighs. No air can get in or out, so how long could you survive consciously or unconsciously inside the box?
Basically, I want how long is it possible to stay in one with what You Think the best air pressure, purity, and such are. Thank you
An average human breath is about 500 ml. I’m estimating that the amount of air space in a fairly compact container would be no more than a cubic foot. There are about 28,317 cc (ml) in a cubic foot. Divide by 500. That would be about 57 full breaths. Before reaching that point, though, the person would be struggling for air because the oxygen content of the mix is decreasing with each breath. A person breathes about 10 times a minute. This would work out to about 5.7 minutes of breathing if each breath was fresh air. But they aren’t. The person’s breathing rate and volume would have to increase in order to get enough oxygen. So I’m guessing it would take about five minutes for the person to lose consciousness. Another 3 for permanent brain damage. Five more for death. Total: about 13 minutes. I have a feeling that this estimate is generous. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was considerably less.
Keep in mind that I believe the person would reach a state of extreme respiratory distress after about 4 minutes.
With increased air pressure and 100% oxygen I guess the person could live 40 minutes.
Your question bothers me. Why do you want to know this?
