BSC 2011 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: La Rinconada, Peru, Mount Everest, Partial Pressure
25 Feb 2015
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Bsc2011 - integrated principles of biology 2 - lecture 2: breathing. Most cellular atp is made by using o2 and generating co2. Most animals require o2 to maintain metabolism. Co2 forms an acid in body fluids and must be eliminated constantly. The body wants to get rid of co2 because co2 readily reacts with water to form carbonic acid and raises the normal ph. The urge to breathe is caused by rising co2, which acidifies blood. Sensors in blood vessels tell body to breathe. Transport of oxygen alternates between diffusion over short distances and bulk flow over long distances. Muscles in diaphragm to suck o2 into lungs, and diffuses through the lungs into the blood. Oxygen binds to hemoglobin in blood, then diffuse to lining of blood cells into other cells. At the molecular level, there is no known mechanism of transporting o2 from low to high concentrations and therefore all molecular o2 transport is passive by diffusion.
