PHYS 799 Study Guide - Comprehensive Final Exam Guide - Protein, Oxygen, Capillary
Document Summary
Oxygen is the most prevalent element in the earth"s crust where it makes up 49. 2% of the weight. As a gaseous element in our atmosphere it comprises 21% by volume. In general it is highly reactive from a redox perspective: hemoglobin (hb) is the oxygen carrier protein. Red blood cell (rbc) hb consists of heme groups (iron in the ferrous state in the center of a porphyrin ring) and globin chains, arranged as four protein chains each with a heme group. Normal adult hb (hba) has 2 alpha and. Less than 5% of o2 and co2 carried in the blood is in physical solution. 95% of the carrying capacity for these gases depends on reversible chemical reactions, with oxygen being bound in the lung and released in the tissues, and carbon dioxide following the reverse path. Blood o2 content is measured in the terms ml o2 / 100 ml blood.