Schottenbauer Publishing

Monday, April 18, 2016

Breathing Patterns

Breathing is an essential component of all forms of physical exercise. 

How can breathing be measured? Take a moment to write a list of variables relevant to breathing. 

Respiration rate (number of breaths per unit time), lung capacity, depth of respiration, and rate of airflow are all ways to measure breathing. 

A spirometer measures the rate of flow of air from breathing. Consider the graphs of spirometer readings below, excerpted from a book series by Schottenbauer Publishing.





Discussion Questions
  1. In each graph above, what are the maximum and minimum flow rates?
  2. In each graph above, what is the period of breath cycle? 
  3. In each graph above, what is the frequency of breath cycle? 
  4. Why is the first graph not a perfect sine wave?
  5. Why is the second graph not showing the same shape as the first graph?


Additional Information