The binding of oxygen by hemoglobin in the blood involves...

The binding of oxygen by hemoglobin in the blood involves the equilibrium reaction: $$\mathrm{HbH}^{+}(a q)+\mathrm{O}_{2}(a q) \rightleftharpoons \mathrm{HbO}_{2}(a q)+\mathrm{H}^{+}(a q)$$ In this equation, Hb is hemoglobin. The pH of normal human blood is highly controlled within a range of 7.35 to 7.45 . Given the above equilibrium, why is this important? What would happen to the oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin if blood became too acidic (a dangerous condition known as acidosis)?

The binding of oxygen by hemoglobin in the blood involves the equilibrium reaction:
$$\mathrm{HbH}^{+}(a q)+\mathrm{O}_{2}(a q) \rightleftharpoons \mathrm{HbO}_{2}(a q)+\mathrm{H}^{+}(a q)$$
In this equation, Hb is hemoglobin. The pH of normal human blood is highly controlled within a range of 7.35 to 7.45 . Given the above equilibrium, why is this important? What would happen to the oxygen-carrying capacity of hemoglobin if blood became too acidic (a dangerous condition known as acidosis)?

Key Concepts

Blood pH Regulation

The precise control of blood pH is critical because even small deviations can have significant physiological consequences. Maintaining a narrow pH range in blood ensures the proper functioning of enzymes and the stability of macromolecular structures, such as hemoglobin. When blood becomes too acidic, as in acidosis, the altered equilibrium reduces hemoglobin's ability to bind oxygen, potentially compromising oxygen delivery to tissues.

Bohr Effect

The Bohr effect describes how the binding affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen is affected by the pH of the surrounding environment. In environments where the pH is lower (more acidic), hemoglobin tends to release oxygen more readily. This physiological mechanism ensures that tissues with higher metabolic rates, which also tend to be more acidic due to increased CO2 production, receive more oxygen.

Le Chatelier's Principle

Le Chatelier's Principle deals with the shift in equilibrium that occurs when a reaction system is subjected to a change in concentration, pressure, temperature, or pH. In the context of hemoglobin binding oxygen, an increase in H+ concentration (lower pH) shifts the equilibrium towards the reactants, thereby reducing the formation of oxyhemoglobin, and ultimately diminishing the oxygen carrying capacity of blood.

Transcript

00:01 Hi everyone.

00:03 Let's answer problem number 129.

00:08 So in this problem you are given an equilibrium equation.

00:13 So first let's look at the terms of the equation and try to identify them.

00:19 In the problem you are given that hp represents hemoglobin.

00:23 As you all may know, hemoglobin is the molecule in blood that carries oxygen to the cells in all parts of your body.

00:27 As you can, you can know, hemoglobin is the molecule in blood that carries oxygen to the cells in all parts of your body.

00:31 As you can, you can, say here in this equation hemoglobin binds to molecule oxygen forming oxyhemoglobin which is represented as hb or 2 here this is the molecule that carries oxygen throughout the body in blood so in the first part of the question you are asked as to why the control of ph is important for this equilibrium well, it's quite obvious if you have a look at the terms in the equation.

01:05 As you can see here, h plus is one of the components of this equilibrium.

01:11 So in order to maintain this equilibrium, the maintenance of the concentration of h plus, or in other words, the ph of the solution is important.

01:26 So moving on to the second part of the question, you are asked as to, what happens to the oxygen carrying capacity if that gets too acidic.

01:36 Now what happens with acidity? so increase in acidity is a decrease in ph and is an increase in h plus concentration.

01:50 Now what happens here when the h plus concentration increases? well, this equilibrium is then disturbed...

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