Blood Buffer Systems : Human Anatomy And Physiology

In this lab, the purpose was to determine the stability of a substance after adding an acid or a base. The results claim that liver and buffer are the most resistance to change in pH. Looking at figure 3, buffer and liver both maintain a stable pH even with the addition of an acid or base. However, potato and water have less buffer in them since their pHs did change. In figure 3, the potato acid’s pH level decreased by two, and the potato base’s pH level increased by two. The level of pH of a water acid decreased by 4, while the water base’s pH increased by 5. These results all tie to the fact that buffer is a substance that maintains a stable pH; the presence of buffer in organisms help maintain homeostasis by binding or releasing hydrogen

10. A pH scale describes the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance. 0 to 6.9 indicates an acidic solution, 7.1 to 14 indicates an alkaline solution, and 7 indicates a neutral solution.

The respiratory and cardiovascular systems work together to supply oxygen to the body’s cells, remove carbon dioxide and regulate the Ph of the body’s fluids. This system of regulation is called homeostasis. (www.wiki.answers.com, 2013)

PH sensors are used in many scientific laboratories to measure the hydrogen-ion concentration of a liquid substance and to determine the basicity and acidity of a liquid. PH meters measure the electrical potential difference between a reference electrode probe and a pH electrode probe. Since these probes are very sensitive, they are required to be kept cleansed from contaminants. If exposed to contamination, one risks faulty or unreliable data, since their accuracy is dependent on a regular calibration and upkeep. To avoid this risk, and accurately measure hydrogen-ion concentration, the probes are kept in a buffer solution and calibrated before each use. [1]

A buffer is a solution that resists changes in pH when H+, OH-, or H20 is added. By using standard lab equipment, a lab pro diagnostic tool, and acidic and basic solutions, the pH can be found. By recording the pH while adding a base or an acid gradually to a buffer solution you can find the capacity of each buffer to resist drastic changes in pH. The best buffers will keep a solution from becoming either too acidic or basic with the addition of a strong base or acid.

3.An example of the urinary system working with the respiratory system to regulate blood pH would be

pH is a measurement of hydrogen ion concentration. It measures rather the solution is acid, base, or neutral.

In this experiment different pH levels ranging from 3 to 11 were used to test the effects on daphnia heart rate. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH ranging from 0 to 6 is acidic, a pH of 7 is neutral, and a pH higher than 7 ranging from 8 to 14 is basic. PH revolves around hydrogen ions (H+). The reason pH levels can be acidic, basic, or neutral is because acids give hydrogen ions away while bases accept hydrogen ions. (Decelles, 2002).

Why does the blood pH value change as PCO2 changes? Because the PCO2 is directly proportional to the H+ levels which are inversely proportional to the pH level of the blood.

High pH is alkalosis, low pH is acidosis.. Next you look at carbon dioxide and bicarbonate. Bicarbonate will go the same way as pH. So if the pH is high then the bicarbonate will be up, if the pH is low then the bicarbonate will be low. Carbon dioxide is the opposite. If the pH is high then the carbon dioxide is low, if the ph is low then the carbon dioxide is high ( Fournier, 2011).

The pH of a solution is the measure of the concentration of charged Hydrogen ions in that given solution. A solution with a pH lower than seven is considered to be acidic. A solution with a higher pH is a base. It is very important for organisms to maintain a stable pH. Biological molecules such as proteins function only at a certain pH level and any changes in pH can result in them not functioning properly. To maintain these constant pH levels, buffer solutions are used. A buffer solution can resist change to small additions of acids or base’s. A good buffer will have components that act like a base, and components that act like an acid.

Metabolic acidosis results from all conditions that decrease the pH of the body fluids below 7.35 and HCO3- levels are <22 mEq/L, with the exception of conditions resulting from altered function of the respiratory system. As hydrogen ions accumulate in the body fluids, buffers first resist a decline in pH. If the buffers cannot compensate for the increase in hydrogen ions, the respiratory center helps regulate the body fluid pH. The reduced pH stimulates the respiratory center, which causes hyperventilation. During hyperventilation, carbon dioxide is eliminated at a greater rate. The elimination of carbon dioxide also eliminates excess hydrogen ions and helps maintain the pH of the body fluids within a normal range. (Angus, 2006)

Buffer: a substance or combination of substanes capable of neutralizing limited quantities of either acid(H3O+) or base (OH-) added to it.

The hydrogen ion (H+) concentration is extremely important to living organisms. Even small changes in H+ ¬¬ion concentration can cause serious consequences to the structural and functional integrity of molecules. Consequently, it is important to regulate the pH within strict limits so that important biochemical processes of living systems can proceed normally.

If an acid-base disturbance shifts the pH outside of the physiologic range, various control measures are activated to resist the change in pH. Compensatory mechanisms try to preserve the normal 20:1 ratio of bicarbonate to carbonic acid to keep the pH at normal range. The body works to maintain normal ratios through a compensation mechanism using renal and respiratory methods (Crowley, 2010).