Haemoglobin and oxygen transportEdexcel International A Level Biology: Flashcards
What these 14 flashcards ask
- What does one haem group bind?
- How many O₂ molecules can one haemoglobin molecule carry?
- Why is the oxygen dissociation curve S-shaped?
- Where does haemoglobin load oxygen, and why?
- Where does haemoglobin unload oxygen, and why?
- What does a curve shifted to the right mean?
- State the Bohr effect.
- How does CO₂ cause the Bohr effect?
- Name the enzyme that converts CO₂ and water to carbonic acid in red blood cells.
- In what main form is CO₂ carried in the blood?
- What is the chloride shift?
- What is carbaminohaemoglobin?
- Compare the curve of fetal and adult haemoglobin.
- Why is fetal haemoglobin useful in the placenta?
Exam questions on Haemoglobin and oxygen transport
- A mountaineer climbs from sea level to a camp at 5,000 m, where the partial pressure of oxygen in the air she breathes is about half of its value at sea level.Explain how haemoglobin is able to pick up oxygen in the lungs and release it in respiring tissues.2 marks
- During a marathon, a runner's leg muscle cells respire rapidly and release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the blood.Explain how the carbon dioxide released by the muscle cells increases the supply of oxygen to them.2 marks
- Oxygen passes from a mother's blood to her fetus's blood across the placenta. In the placenta the partial pressure of oxygen is about 3 kPa. At this partial pressure the mother's (adult) haemoglobin is about 45% saturated with oxygen, whereas the fetal haemoglobin is about 65% saturated.Explain how the difference in saturation at 3 kPa allows the fetus to obtain enough oxygen from its mother's blood.3 marks
Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).