Henry's Law

Excerpt

A common definition of aerospace medicine is the medicine of normal physiology in an abnormal environment. A subspecialty within occupational medicine, the challenge of aerospace medicine lies in safeguarding the health of individuals who work in a dynamic atmosphere of lowering pressure and oxygen content, coupled with increasing altitude. It is essential to comprehend the physical changes that occur as we ascend from sea level to address the medical needs of the pilot, aircrew, and aircraft passengers. Most notably, an understanding of the chemical gas laws that describe the characteristics of atmospheric gases as well as those gases that reside within our bodies is critical to the practice of aerospace medicine. Henry’s law is one of the most pertinent of these gas laws to the practice of aerospace medicine. Named after the English physician William Henry, this law defines the relationship between the partial pressure of gases overlying a solution and the gases’ ability to dissolve in that solution.