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Biology/physiology related question. Blood, oxygen? Need answer fast. Correct answer= 10pts!!!?
Arterial blood carries as much as 20.4 ml of Oxygen in each 100 ml of blood, that is, 1/5 of our blood volume is oxygen! Why does so much oxygen not block blood flow through blood vessels? A bubble of air trapped in a blood vessel can cause a heart attack or a stroke.
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Inside the red blood cells one can find haemoglobin. This protein has an iron atom in its active site, and the iron bounds to the oxygen and haemoglobin transports oxygen to the tissues in that way.
Some oxygen is also dissolved in the plasma (gases can dissolve in liquids), but this is only a small % of the total oxygen in oxygenated (the so-called "arterial") blood.
So oxygen isn't transported as "bubbles" in the blood, not at all. As you say, a bubble trapped in a blood vessel can cause serious damage.
- 1 decade ago
The molecules of oxygen are bound to the iron in blood - its not like the molecules are floating about in the blood stream, in which case, your right, that would cause problems - that is also a disease: Im not sure of the exact name of it, but it is basically the anti-fusing of the oxygen and the iron, and is very dangerous.
