Experiment: Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Content

Introduction
Blood alcohol content (BAC), is the measure of alcohol in the blood and is usually reported 
as the mass of alcohol found in a specific volume of blood, typically in grams of alcohol per 100 
mL (deciliter) of blood.  A person’s BAC level
depends upon a number of factors, such as the
number of drinks consumed, the rate of
consumption, the alcohol content of the drink
along with a person’s gender, weight, and
overall health.  The BAC may also be affected
by an acquired tolerance, genetics, drug use,
and food consumption.  Since the amount of
alcohol in the blood is related to the amount of
blood in body tissues, such as the brain, the
BAC is used as a means to determine the level
of intoxication and impairment (Figure 1).
This is also the measure that is commonly used
by law enforcement and in the criminal justice
Figure 1.  Relative risk of being involved in an 
system.  As the BAC increases, changes in
automobile crash plotted against blood alcohol 
behavior and impairment in judgment, motor
concentration (dwiwatch.org/Images/CrashRiskDunlap_x.jpg).
skills, and other body functions increases.  If
the BAC becomes too high, it can result in
coma or death (Table 1).  
When alcohol is consumed, it is 
Table 1. Effects of different blood alcohol concentrations not stored in the stomach or small 
on the body (science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih3/alcohol/guide/info­alcohol.htm). intestines, but enters the blood stream to
be metabolized.  As soon as the alcohol 
enters the blood, it begins to metabolize
– be broken down into other 
compounds.  The liver produces 
enzymes that metabolize and break 
down the alcohol.  The ethanol in a 
consumed beverage is broken down, or 
oxidized, to acetaldehyde by the 
enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, then to 
acetic acid, and finally to carbon 
dioxide and water.  Normal 
Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 1 ©  2009
consumption levels of alcohol can saturate the enzymes needed for full metabolism to capacity.  
This capacity depends on each person and determines the rate that their body can break down the 
alcohol.  If too much acetaldehyde builds up in the body, the liver can also reach a saturation point 
and it will not be able to break down more acetaldehyde to acetic acid 

Objectives
In this lab you will calculate a hypothetical BAC based on an estimate of drinks in one hour.

Background
One of the first attempts at collecting breath for a test of alcohol content utilized a football
as the collection container - in 1927 a paper produced by Emil Bogen described the method used
and his findings that breath was as practical for use as urine. The first practical roadside breath-
testing device intended for use by the police was the “drunkometer”. The drunkometer was
developed by Professor Harger in 1938. The device collected the breath sample directly into a
balloon inside the machine. The breath sample was then
pumped through an acidified potassium permanganate
solution. If there was alcohol in the breath sample, the
solution changed color. The greater the color change, the
more alcohol there was present in the breath. This device
was useful, but cumbersome, and was as large as a shoebox.
Dr. Robert Borkenstein (1912–2002), a captain with
the Indiana State Police and later a professor at Indiana
University at Bloomington, was the creator of a device that
was the first practical BAC field measuremnt device that
measured a subject's blood alcohol level based on a breath
sample. In 1954, Borkenstein invented his breathalyzer,
which used chemical oxidation and photometry to determine
alcohol concentration. Recently, breath BAC analyzers
have switched primarily to infrared spectroscopy for these
measuremtns. The invention of the breathalyzer provided
law enforcement with a non-invasive test providing Figure 2.  Modern breathalyzer 
(www.massachusettsduilawyerblog.com/breathalyzer­test/).
immediate results to determine an individual's breath
alcohol concentration at the time of testing.
When the person being tested exhales into the breathalyzer, any ethanol present in their
breath is oxidized to acetic acid at the anode:

CH3CH2OH(g) + H2O(l) → CH3CO2H(l) + 4H+(aq) + 4e-

At the cathode, atmospheric oxygen is reduced:

O2(g) + 4H+ (aq) + 4e- → 2H2O(l)

The overall reaction, then, is the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid and water.

CH3CH2OH(l) + O2(g) → CH3COOH(l) + H2O(l)

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 2 © 2009
The electrical current produced by this reaction is measured, processed, and displayed as an
approximation of overall blood alcohol content by the breathalyzer.
Breath analyzers do not directly measure blood alcohol content or concentration, which
requires the analysis of a blood sample. Instead, they estimate BAC indirectly by measuring the
amount of alcohol in one's breath. Desktop analyzers generally use infrared spectrophotometer
technology, electrochemical fuel cell technology, or a combination of the two whereas hand-held
field testing devices are generally based on electrochemical platinum fuel cell analysis.
Infrared-based breathalyzers project an infrared beam of radiation through the captured
breath in the sample chamber and detect the absorbance of the compound (alcohol) as a function of
the wavelength of the beam, producing an absorbance spectrum that can be used to identify the
compound – infrared can be utilized to observe the vibrations within a molecules bonds, and in this
case the bond being examined is the characteristic bond of alcohols, the O-H bond. The more light
that is absorbed by the alcohol, the less light that will reach the detector on the other side producing
a higher reading.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content
http://www.bloodalcoholcontent.org
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/642alcoholmet.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 3 © 2009
 Experiment: Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Content

Experimental Methods

Setup: You have just turned 21 and you went out with your friends to celebrate.  Make an 

estimate of the number of drinks you consumed in one hour. This estimate needs to be specific, 

beers, ounces of wine, mixed drinks, shots._______

I.  Determine the amount of “200” proof (pure alcohol) that has been consumed by filling in the 

blanks below:  

Total ounces of alcoholic beverage consumed: _________

Multiply by 30 to convert oz. to mL of alcohol: _________  (note: 1 oz ca. 30 mL)

Convert mL to grams of alcohol by multiplying by 1.00: _________ (1 gm = ~1 mL)

Determine grams of ethanol by multiplying the percent of alcohol in the drink by 

the grams of beverage (See table below)e: _________ 

 I
Grams of Ethanol :

Beers (3-10%) Sparkling Wine (8–12%) Fortified Wines (16–22%) Spirits (20-70%) Other Drinks
Pilsner 3–6% Table Wine 9–14% Sherry 17–22% Light Liqueurs 15-25% Fruit Juice < 0.1%
ESB (Bitter) 3-6% Retsina 10-11% Marsala Wine 15-17% Vodka/Whiskey/Rum 40% Alcopops 3-7%
Lager 4-5% Dry White 10-12% Madeira Wine 15-18% Cask Strength Whiskey 60% Wine Coolers 4-7%
Porter 4-5% Cabernet 11-14% Vermouth 15-18% Absinthe 55–90% Cider 4–8%
Brown Ale 4-6% Barley Wine 11–15% Port Wine 16-20% Neutral Grain Spirits 95%
IPA (India Pale) 6-7% “Bum” Wine 15-20% Rectified Spirits 96%
Stout 5-10% Absolute Alcohol 96-98%

II. The alcohol will be evenly distributed in all of the body’s water but a representative fraction of it

will be found in the blood.  Determine the weight of the water present, and then the weight of the 

blood.  

Your body weight in pounds: _________

Multiply by 454 to body weight convert to grams: _________ (Note: 1 ib. = ~ 454 g)

Body Water:  

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 4 © 2009
 Women—Multiply your weight by 0.49 to convert to percent body water: 

_________

Men—Multiply your weight by 0.60 to convert to percent body water: 

_________

Water in Blood:

Multiply grams of body weight by 0.08 to convert to grams of 

blood: _________

Multiply by 0.55 to convert to grams of blood to grams of water in blood: 

_________

Fraction of the body’s water contained in blood:

Divide your amount of water in blood by your total body 

Water (both were calculated separately above): _________

Water in the Body’s blood :

III.  Determine how much alcohol one would expect to find present in the blood.  

Divide the answer in Step 1 by the last answer in Step 2 (Water in the Body’s
blood: _________

Alcohol in the blood :

IV. The BAC is a measure of the weight of alcohol present in a certain volume of blood.  

Multiply your body weight by 454: _________

Multiply body weight in grams by 0.08: _________

Divide by 1.04 to convert to mL of blood: _________
Blood in the body:

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 5 © 2009
Determine the BAC.

Divide grams of alcohol in blood by mL of blood in the body: _________

(note: if you get lost, there’s a sample calculation at the end of this lab to use as a model)

Progressive Effects of Alcohol

BAC (%) Behavior Impairment

← Relaxation
← Thought
← Sense of Well-being
← Judgment
← Loss of Inhibition
.01–.06 ← Coordination
← Lowered Alertness
← Concentration
← Joyous
← Reflexes Impaired
← Blunted Feelings ← Reasoning
← Disinhibition ← Depth Perception
.06–.10 ← Extroversion ← Distance Acuity
← Peripheral Vision
← Impaired Sexual Pleasure
← Glare Recovery
← Over-Expression ← Reaction Time
← Emotional Swings ← Gross Motor Control
.11–.20 ← Angry or Sad ← Staggering

← Boisterous ← Slurred Speech

← Stupor ← Severe Motor Impairment
← Lose Understanding ← Loss of Consciousness
.21–.29
← Impaired Sensations ← Memory Blackout
← Severe Depression ← Bladder Function
← Unconsciousness ← Breathing
.30–.39
← Death Possible ← Heart Rate
← Unconsciousness ← Breathing
>.40
← Death ← Heart Rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 6 © 2009
With this experiment, your report (below) that you will submit online, needs to contain the 
following items:

 The completed calculation sheet (above).
 Answers to the questions below.

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 7 © 2009
 Experiment: Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Content

Name               
               
               
               
               

(1) Many breathalyzers used in law enforcement are very small examples of a
spectrophotometric method, which method is it, and explain the science involved:

(2) List the different ways a person can introduce a drug, alcohol is but one example, into the
human body:

(3) How does alcohol affect the brain? How can you use this information to visually tell how
impaired an individual might be?

(4) List a some hangover effects you have heard of – using the graphics provided, explain
scientifically why this occurs:

(5)  Describe the biological methods that can eliminate alcohol from the body:

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 8 © 2009
 Example Calculation

I. Determine the amount of “200” proof that has been consumed.  

Ounces of alcohol consumed: 12 shots * 1.5 oz per shot = 18 oz

Multiply by 30 for mL of alcohol: 540 mL

Convert mL to grams of alcohol by multiplying by 1.00: 540 g

Determine grams of ethanol by multiplying the percent of alcohol in the drink by 

the grams of beverage: 540*.4375 = 236 g

 I
Grams of Ethanol : 236 g

II. The alcohol will be evenly distributed in all of the body’s water and only a fraction 

of it will be found in the blood.  Determine the weight of the water present, and then the weight of 

the blood.  

Your body weight in pounds: 150 lb

Multiply by 454 to convert to grams: 68,100 g

Body Water:  

Women—Multiply by 0.49 to convert to percent body water: 33,369 g

Water in Blood:

Multiply grams of body weight by 0.08 to convert to grams of 

blood: 5,448 g

Multiply by 0.55 to convert to grams of water in blood: 2,996.4 g

Fraction of the body’s water contained in blood:

Divide your amount of water in blood by your total body 

water: 2996.4/33,369 = 0.0898

Water in the Body’s blood : 0.0898

III. Determine how much alcohol one would expect to find present in the blood.  

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 9 © 2009
 Divide the answer in Step 1 by the last answer in Step 2: 236/0.0898
Ethanol in the blood : 2,628 g

IV. The BAC is a measure of the weight of alcohol present in a certain volume of blood. 

Multiply your body weight by 454: 68,100 g

Multiply by 0.08: 5,448 g

Divide by 1.04 to convert to mL of blood: 5,238 mL
Blood in the body: 5,238 mL

V. Determine the BAC.

Divide grams of alcohol in blood by mL of blood in the body: 2,628/5,238 = 0.50

     On the chart, this would have me unconscious or dead, again assuming I could 
have processed all of that and hit a peak BAC in one hour….

Hypothetical Blood Alcohol Calculations 10 © 2009