A 78.5-kg man floats in freshwater with 3.2% of his volume above water when his lungs are empty, and 4.85% of his volume above water when his lungs are full. Required:
a. Calculate the volume of air he inhales - called his lung capacity - in liters.
b. Does this lung volume seem reasonable?

A) V_air = 1.295 L

B) Volume is not reasonable

Explanation:

A) Let;

m be total mass of the man

m_p be the mass of the man that pulled out of the water because of the buoyant force that pulled out of the lung

m_3 be the mass above the water with the empty lung

m_5 be the mass above the water with full lung

F_b be the buoyant force due to the air in the lung

V_a be the volume of air inside man's lungs

w_p be the weight that the buoyant force opposes as a result of the air.

Now, we are given;

m = 78.5 kg

m_3 = 3.2% × 78.5 = 2.512 kg

m_5 = 4.85% × 78.5 = 3.80725 kg

Now, m_p = m_5 - m_3

m_p = 3.80725 - 2.512

m_p = 1.29525 kg

From archimedes principle, we have the formula for buoyant force as;

F_b = (m_displaced water)g = (ρ_water × V_air × g)

Where ρ_water is density of water = 1000 kg/m³

Thus;

F_b = w_p = 1.29525 × 9.81

F_b = 12.7064 N

As earlier said,

F_b = (ρ_water × V_air × g)

Thus;

V_air = F_b/(ρ_water × × g)

V_air = 12.7064/(1000 × 9.81)

V_air = 1.295 × 10^(-3) m³

We want to convert to litres;

1 m³ = 1000 L

Thus;

V_air = 1.295 × 10^(-3) × 1000

V_air = 1.295 L

B) From research, the average lung capacity of an adult human being is 6 litres of air.

Thus, the calculated lung volume is not reasonable

see earlier answer