Partial pressures of gases in the blood.

Question

For example: PO2 and PCO2 in the blood are measured and have some numerical value in mm of Hg. What does this actually mean and what’s the significance?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The pressure of a gas is the result of the contribution by the different molecules in a gaseous state.
The partial pressure of a gas is the contribution of one kind of gas to the total pressure

As far as mmHg goes it’s a pressure unit based on how high the pressure can push an amount of mercury. It’s a non SI unit and an abomination.