A diver uses an air tank that contains 75.7 % nitrogen. Determine the partial pressure of the nitrogen at 17.1 m.

To solve this problem, we need to know the total pressure at 17.1m depth. The total pressure at a certain depth in water can be calculated using the formula: P = P0 + ρgh, where P0 is the atmospheric pressure at sea level, ρ is the density of the water, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the depth.

1. First, we need to convert the depth from meters to atmospheres because the pressure underwater increases by 1 atmosphere every 10 meters. So at 17.1m, the pressure is 1 + 17.1/10 = 2.71 atmospheres.

2. The partial pressure of a gas is the pressure that gas would have if it were alone in the container. It is calculated by multiplying the total pressure by the fraction of the gas. In this case, the nitrogen makes up 75.7% of the air in the tank, so the partial pressure of the nitrogen is 2.71 * 0.757 = 2.05 atmospheres.

So, the partial pressure of the nitrogen at 17.1m is 2.05 atmospheres.