Answer :
Final answer:
The BAC is expected to be highest in a woman aged 60 after consuming a 12-ounce beer, due to factors like lower body water content, higher fat percentage, and reduced metabolic rate.
Explanation:
Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) can be influenced by various factors, including gender and age. All other conditions being the same, the highest BAC after drinking a 12-ounce beer is typically found in a woman aged 60. This is due to several reasons:
- Women generally have a higher body fat percentage and lower water content than men, which means alcohol is less diluted within their bodies, causing a higher BAC.
- Older individuals may have a reduced ability to metabolize alcohol due to decreased liver function, and their bodies might also be less capable of diluting alcohol due to a natural decrease in body water content with age.
- Enzymatic activity, such as that of alcohol dehydrogenase which is responsible for breaking down alcohol, decreases as a person ages.
Therefore, factoring in these aspects, we would expect the BAC to be highest in the woman aged 60, followed by the woman aged 25, then the man aged 60, and finally the man aged 25, assuming the same amount of alcohol is consumed by all.
