Saddleback Journal of Biology - Saddleback College

Spring 2010 Biology 3B Paper
Materials and Methods
The experiment was executed at the
Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback
College. Two groups (smokers and non-smokers) of
volunteers, consisting of five subjects each
participated in the investigation. The subjects (n=10)
ranged from 18 to 25 years of age, and each
participant signed a waiver form and answered a
questionnaire to determine how much tobacco they
have smoked throughout their life. The Oxycon
Mobile, which was used to measure the vital
capacity, was calibrated to 21.01% oxygen and
0.02% carbon dioxide. The Oxycon Mobile was
attached to each subject, and they were instructed to
inhale and exhale as much as possible while at rest.
The subjects (smokers and non-smokers) vital lung
capacities (VC) were measured for a total of one
minute. For the cardiovascular exercise protocol, the
subjects were to ride the stationary bicycle for five
minutes. During the five minutes, the subjects were
instructed to gradually increase their pace to full
speed, in order to fully maximize their respiratory
rate. Similar to the resting protocol, the subjects were
asked to inhale and exhale as many times as possible
to determine their vital lung capacity.
By determining the participant’s vital lung
capacities, the forced vital capacity, which is the
amount of air that can be exhaled after taking the
deepest breath possible, was calculated. The data was
compared between the smoking and non-smoking
groups prior to and after the exercise protocol. Using
Microsoft Excel, the results were analyzed using an
unpaired, one-tailed t-test to determine whether there
was significance between the two groups (p