Hypothesis
A person’s lung capacity will increase until he is in his 20’s, after which his lung capacity will slowly decline as he grows older.
Overview
Lung capacity
Lungs are respiratory organs that remove waste gases such as carbon dioxide from our body while supplying oxygen from the air to our blood vessels, whereas lung capacity refers to the amount of air that our lungs can hold. All of us have two lungs that are located in our left and right chest, and an average person has a lung capacity of approximately 4000 to 6000 cm3.
The capacity of human lungs can be said to be overbuilt when it is compared against our respiratory needs, since we only use about one third of our lung capacity. The lung capacity of a person usually depends on his or her gender, height, weight and age. For example, women have about 25% less lung capacity when compared to men. In addition, people such as those who are tall, non-smokers, live in high altitudes, athletes and musicians playing wind instrument musicians usually have a larger lung capacity.
Tidal volume refers to the volume of air breathed in and out by a person during normal respiration whereas the total lung capacity refers to the maximum amount of air that a person can take in during a maximal inspiration, which occurs when we take a deep breath. Vital capacity on the other hand refers to the maximum volume of air that a person can force out of his or her lungs after taking a maximal inspiration.
Scientific Terms
Lungs, lung capacity, tidal volume, total lung capacity, vital capacity
Conclusion
The experimental data and analyzed results support the hypothesis that a person’s lung capacity will increase until he is in his 20’s, after which his lung capacity will slowly decline as he grows older.
Our lung capacity is an indicator of our health condition. As lungs supply oxygen to the blood vessels in our bodies and remove any carbon dioxide generated as waste gases from our blood stream, it is very important for us to keep our lungs healthy. Habits such as smoking not only reduce our lung capacity but will also damage our lungs, leading to lung cancer.
Also consider
This science fair project can be repeated to compare the lung capacity of smokers and non-smokers.
Try to repeat the experiment to compare the lung capacity of athletes and non-athletes.
References
Human lung - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_lung
What should I know about lung capacity - http://www.wisegeek.com/what-should-i-know-about-lung-capacity.htm
Lung volumes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_volumes
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