Does oxygen "dissolve" into the blood?
We know oxygen molecules bind to hemoglobin in the blood. We know oxygen "diffuses" into the blood stream, but can it also be classified as dissolving?
Answers:
yes. so does carbon dioxide, helium...ect...
it could be, but that's not exactly the same as diffusing.
dissolve implies breakdown of a substance, and since oxygen stays surrounded by the blood indefinitly, dissolve isn't the right term.
Those are two different processes you're talking about within.
The main way oxygen is carried through the body is within red blood cell, bound to hemoglobin. It gets there via a process of diffusion across the walls of alveoli into capillaries contained by the lungs. That is how O2 gets to where it needs to be and is carried throughout the body, and how CO2 is returned to the lungs for disposal (it binds to the hemoglobin surrounded by the periphery after the O2 is dropped off--oversimplification, but basically that's what goes on).
Oxygen is also, to a much lesser extent, dissolved surrounded by the plasma of the blood. Under normal circumstances, this dissolved oxygen is not terribly important within terms of providing for the body. However, under some circumstances, it may become much more important, and near are ways of increasing the amount of O2 the plasma will hold. This is the purpose behind using hyperbaric chambers in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. By increasing the pressure, you increase the amount of solute that can dissolve within the blood. The problem with CO poisoning is that CO binds much more tightly to hemoglobin than O2 does, and it doesn't dissociate as quickly. When you increase the amount of O2 dissolve in plasma, you are buying time for the tissues by providing O2 surrounded by a different form while you are waiting for the CO to dissociate, leaving the hemoglobin free for O2 again. Source(s): MD.
The majority of oxygen binds to hemaglobin. A very small percentage disolves into the plasma.
Oxygen can dissolve into water, yes. Since blood is mostly water, it dissolves into blood (and not basically the molecules that actually bind to the hemoglobin).
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Answers:
yes. so does carbon dioxide, helium...ect...
it could be, but that's not exactly the same as diffusing.
dissolve implies breakdown of a substance, and since oxygen stays surrounded by the blood indefinitly, dissolve isn't the right term.
Those are two different processes you're talking about within.
The main way oxygen is carried through the body is within red blood cell, bound to hemoglobin. It gets there via a process of diffusion across the walls of alveoli into capillaries contained by the lungs. That is how O2 gets to where it needs to be and is carried throughout the body, and how CO2 is returned to the lungs for disposal (it binds to the hemoglobin surrounded by the periphery after the O2 is dropped off--oversimplification, but basically that's what goes on).
Oxygen is also, to a much lesser extent, dissolved surrounded by the plasma of the blood. Under normal circumstances, this dissolved oxygen is not terribly important within terms of providing for the body. However, under some circumstances, it may become much more important, and near are ways of increasing the amount of O2 the plasma will hold. This is the purpose behind using hyperbaric chambers in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. By increasing the pressure, you increase the amount of solute that can dissolve within the blood. The problem with CO poisoning is that CO binds much more tightly to hemoglobin than O2 does, and it doesn't dissociate as quickly. When you increase the amount of O2 dissolve in plasma, you are buying time for the tissues by providing O2 surrounded by a different form while you are waiting for the CO to dissociate, leaving the hemoglobin free for O2 again. Source(s): MD.
The majority of oxygen binds to hemaglobin. A very small percentage disolves into the plasma.
Oxygen can dissolve into water, yes. Since blood is mostly water, it dissolves into blood (and not basically the molecules that actually bind to the hemoglobin).
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