I have started reading those papers with great interest, and I have a bunch of questions about some of the underlying assumptions. I would appreciate some hints. I apologize if these are obvious, I am not a physicist.
a) Haldane states that one need not be concerned about PCO2 in alveolar air because it remains constant regardless of the ambient pressure. I skimmed over his earlier paper, and I did not stumble upon any sort of clear explanation why this should be the case. It was perhaps sort of vaguely hinted (or not) that the excess CO2 would condensate in the lungs as a water vapor and exhaled. Is that correct?
b) Workman asserted that the 2:1 ratio was really a 1:56 ratio, but his argument is unclear. He seems to be comparing the partial pressure of nitrogen with an absolute ambient pressure. Henry's law, as I understand it, only talks about partial pressures of the same gas, and if the ambient pressure drops 2x, so does the partial pressure of Nitrogen. Clearly, he must be referring to some other gas law, for otherwise I do not see how the presence or absence of oxygen should affect the process of Nitrogen diffusion from tissues/blood into the expired air.
a) Haldane states that one need not be concerned about PCO2 in alveolar air because it remains constant regardless of the ambient pressure. I skimmed over his earlier paper, and I did not stumble upon any sort of clear explanation why this should be the case. It was perhaps sort of vaguely hinted (or not) that the excess CO2 would condensate in the lungs as a water vapor and exhaled. Is that correct?
b) Workman asserted that the 2:1 ratio was really a 1:56 ratio, but his argument is unclear. He seems to be comparing the partial pressure of nitrogen with an absolute ambient pressure. Henry's law, as I understand it, only talks about partial pressures of the same gas, and if the ambient pressure drops 2x, so does the partial pressure of Nitrogen. Clearly, he must be referring to some other gas law, for otherwise I do not see how the presence or absence of oxygen should affect the process of Nitrogen diffusion from tissues/blood into the expired air.