Question

Differentiate between vital lung capacity and total lung capacity

Answer 1

Hint: Both of these can provide the measurement of lung capacities by comparing two or more volumes.

Complete answer

Vital lung capacity	Total lung capacity
Vital capacity (VC) is the maximum amount of air a person can expel from the lungs after a maximum inhalation.	Total lung capacity (TLC) is the volume of air in the lungs after a maximum inspiration.
It includes IC and ERV.	It includes IC, ERV, and residual volume.
It is about 4000 millilitre in the human lungs.	It is about 5000-6000 millilitre in the human lungs.
Vital lung capacity is calculated by summing tidal volume(TV), inspiratory reserve volume (IRV) , and expiratory reserve volume (ERV). Therefore, VC = TV+IRV+ERV.	Total lung capacity is calculated by summing tidal volume (TV) , inspiratory reserve volume (IRV), expiratory reserve volume (ERV) and residual volume(RV).Therefore, TLC = TV+IRV+ERV+RV

Additional information: Function Residual Capacity(FRC) is also a measurement of lumg capacity.It is the amount of air remaining in the lungs at the end of a normal exhalation. You can calculate its value by adding together residual volume (RV) and expiratory reserve volumes (ERV). In other words, you can say: FRC = RV+ERV.

Note: The normal value of functional residual capacity is 1800 – 2200 millilitre in the human lungs. Lung capacity is helpful to predict human health and longevity.