TOPIC 6.

4
LUNG CAPACITY IN RELATION TO GENDER AND HEIGHT
IB Biology SL
Enrique Delgado & Gianna Hernández
Introduction
When we breathe, we take in air which travels through our respiratory tract and ends in the
lungs. Within the lungs, air goes into our alveoli where oxygen in the air diffuses into the blood
and carbon dioxide diffuses out of the blood into the air space of the alveoli. Afterwards, we
exhale the air and force it out of the lungs.
The alveoli can only take in so much air; there are multiple alveoli in each bronchiole branch in
order to make sure we inspire as much air as possible and to maximize efficiency due to the
increased surface area.
In this investigation, we wish to understand how lung capacity (or how much air one can inspire
and expire) changes with height and gender, seeing if these factors contribute to an increase or
decrease of lung capacity.
To understand this, we’ll be looking at Forced Expired Volume for 1 second (FEV1), Forced Vital
Capacity (FVC) and the percentage of air that is blown out of the lung. FEV1 measures how
much air is exhaled in one second, FVC measures how much air is exhaled in total and the
percentage of air that is blown out of the lung measures how much of the air is expired out of
the lung, based on the FEV1 and the FVC. To get the percentage, one divides the FEV1 amount
with the FVC amount.
With this, we’ll be able to comprehend how much air our lungs can hold approximately, based
on gender and height.

Hypothesis
The taller a person is, the higher lung capacity the person will have. In other words, a taller
person will have a higher FEV1 and FVC. The percentage of air blown out of the lung will remain
the same.
As for gender, males will have higher lung capacity than females. Male FEV1 and FVC will be
higher than a female’s. The percentage of air blown out of the lung will remain the same.

Variables
Independent Dependent Control

- Height - Forced Expired Volume - Non-smoking

- Gender for 1 second (FEV1) - Age (20)
- Forced Vital Capacity
(FVC)
- Percentage of air blown
out of the lung.

Method
In order to do this experiment, we will use a simulation made by The OpenScience Laboratory,
accessed in the following url: https://learn5.open.ac.uk/mod/htmlactivity/view.php?id=1548.
The website simulates a patient breathing out into a spirometer, which measures the FEV1, the
FVC and the percentage of air blown out of the lungs. This allows us to not go through ethical
dilemmas of using real humans in our experiment, plus it makes it easier to check exactly what
we want based on the patient’s changes.
In the website, one can edit the height, gender and age of the patient, as well as being able to
edit if they are a smoker or a non-smoker. That means, we don’t have to scout real human
beings with a variety of different heights, which could complicate the experiments because
they’re living beings and their lung capacity may change depending on external factors, such as
injuries or even weather. The simulation makes the experiment much more simple. Due to the
nature of our experiment, we will keep all of our patients a non-smoker and at an age of 20
years, only changing how tall they are and their gender.
For the experiment, we first tried getting the data of male patients with a height of 125cm (the
minimum in the website). Afterwards, we would increase the patient’s height by 10cm and
check their lung data, and we kept adding 10cm and checking until we reached patients that
were 195cm tall. After that, we would start over but with females now, going from 125cm tall,
to 135cm tall, to 145cm tall, until we reached females 195cm tall.

Results

Table 1. Male spirometric measures

Table 2. Female spirometric measures

Graph 1. Male spirometric measures

Graph 2. Male proportion of FVC in a second

Graph 3. Female spirometric measures

Graph 4. Female proportion of FVC in a second

By observing the tables and portraying the information on the graphs, it’s evident that even
though the female and male spirometer results are similar, their major difference lays out in
the form of the FEV1/FVC trend line. The Male FEV1/FVC line in the graph, is a smooth curve,
while the female one, is an almost straight line. It can also be observed that as the height
increases, the proportion of FVC in a second decreases, unlike the FEV1 and the FVC, that
increase along the height.
The FEV1 and the FVC of the female group follow the same trend as the masculine spirometric
measures, but the feminine ones are less than the masculine ones. This is, excepting the
FEV1/FVC, which contradictorily, follows a different pattern. The feminine one has slightly
larger values than the male one. As this is a percentage unit, and it’s the result of a division, it
can change as the difference between the FEV1 and the FVC decreases on males, and remains
constant on females, as it can be observed on the graphs. As a consequence, it may be that a
male and a female with 125 centimeters of height have a similar FEV1/FVC, with a small
difference of 0.05% (male is higher than the female). But, it’s not the same with a male and a
female 195cm tall, because the FEV1/FVC changes for 2.36% (female is higher than the male).

Conclusions
In conclusion, as spirometry is used for determining the presence and checking periodically on
lung diseases, performing an experiment as this one that involves the use of a spirometer
(virtually), and realistic results, is useful to learn about the subject. The knowledge acquired
during this process includes: understanding the uses, applications and the methodology of a
spirometry test, and learning about human lung capacity, in its quantitative appreciation.
During the experiment, it was observed that the spirometric measures within gender and
height can vary, with both height groups (by gender) following a constant pattern. It was
observed that even though the spirometry test in both genders resulted in the male FEV1 and
FVC measures being higher than the female ones, the FEV1/FVC trend line would follow a
different pattern. It was also clear that during the interpretation of the results, as the
FEV1/FVC had much higher values than the two others, a specific graph had to be done,
because it was a percentage. The FEV1/FVC trend line difference within genders, resulted in a
considerable difference compared with its starting point, female FEV1/FVC was less than the
male one within a 125cm range, but it changed as the height was set to 175cm: female
proportion of FVC in a second rose, and it was higher than the male one.
The hypothesis was partially correct, as we were right about the FEV1 and the FVC regarding
height and gender. But the FEV1/FVC changed along with the rest of the measures, so it
contradicts the hypothesis, as it states that it would remain the same.
Finally, spirometric measurements are important and should be studied further because they
can help monitor, understand, prevent and diagnose lung diseases, so as it is a safe and simple
test that carries a great significance in lung treatment and study, patients who take it should
take it seriously and with the importance it deserves.

Improvements or extensions to the method

The experiment could be improved by performing these tests for spirometric measurements
more than once, to check if the website is able to give more than one amount. This would lead
to more accurate results. It could also be recommended that, as an extension to the method,
the amounts collected should be all of the ones found on the sliding bar, even if this makes the
experiment much longer. This would be done to get a better graph, and thus, to make even
more acute observations.

References
- The OpenScience Laboratory. (N/D). Spirometer.
https://learn5.open.ac.uk/mod/htmlactivity/view.php?id=1548. Accessed January 7th,
2022.
- Kognity book. (N/D). Chapter 6 Human physiology. Subtopic 6.4. Gas Exchange. Section
6.4.2. Ventilation. IBDP Biology SL.
https://app.kognity.com/study/app/biology-sl-fe-2016. Accessed January 10th, 2022.
- (N/A). (2017). Spirometry. Mayo Clinic.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/spirometry/about/pac-20385201 .
Accessed January 10th, 2022.