Respiratory Physiology – Lab Report Assistant
Subject: General Questions   / General General Questions
Question
Respiratory Physiology
Hands-On Labs, Inc.
Version 42-0020-00-02 Lab Report Assistant
This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is
simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be
addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing
this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor. Exercise 1: Measuring Respiratory Values at Rest
and During Exercise
Data Table 1. Normal Breathing Measurements.
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average of Trials:
(Trial 1 + 2 + 3)/3 Trial 3 Average of Trials:
(Trial 1 + 2 + 3)/3 Number of breaths in
30 seconds
Average number of
breaths per minute
Data Table 2. Tidal Volume Measurements.
Trial 1 Trial 2 Circumference of
balloon (cm)
Data Table 3. Resting Ventilation Measurements.
Measurement
Average Radius (r) at Rest (cm)
Tidal Volume at Rest (mL)
Minute Ventilation (VE) at Rest (L/min) Value Data Table 4. Forced Vital Capacity Estimations Using Calculations Based on Height and Weight.
Measurement Value Height Measurement (cm)
Weight Measurement (kg)
Body Surface Area (BSA) Estimate (Mostellar Formula)
Force Vital Capacity (FVC) Estimate from Body Surface
Area
Forced Vital Capacity and Estimated Total Lung Volume
Estimations Using Balloon Measurements
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Largest
Circumference
of Trials Volume of the
Balloon using
the Largest
Circumference Circumference of
balloon (cm)
FVC estimate from
data collected (L)
Estimated Total
Lung Volume (L)
Data Table 5. Exercising Ventilation Measurements.
Trial 1
Number of breaths per minute
(after 30 seconds of initial exercise)
Circumference of the balloon at the
end of exercise (cm)
Average radius (r) of balloon (cm)
(exercising measures)
Average volume of air exhaled each
breath during exercise (L)
Minute Ventilation (VE) during
exercise (L/min) Questions Trial 2 Trial 3 Average of Trials:
(Trial 1 + 2 + 3)/3 A. What was the difference between the estimated versus actual forced tidal volume? When
might it be useful to use the estimated numbers instead of measurements?
B. How do the minute ventilation (V E) values change during exercise? Why does this occur?
Heart rate increases with exercise as well. How does this relate to external respiration?
C. Do you think that the forced vital capacity (FVC) of a person would change as that person
increases exercise training? Why or why not? How might exercise training affect a person’s
ability to increase VE during exercise?
D. An increase in age usually decreases the forced vital capacity of an individual. Why do you
think this might occur?
