Partial Pressure in the Blood
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Partial Pressure in the Blood
Hi everyone,
So I was thinking about how oxygen and CO2 are exchanged in the blood, and how a lot of this can be boiled down to differences in partial pressure. I am familiar with Henry's Law and how the pressure of the gas above a liquid will in turn affect the concentration of the gas in the liquid itself; however, I'm wondering how this is possible in blood vessels, where there is (I assume) no gas above the liquid in which to equalize with. Blood vessels seem, to me, to be purely liquid, so what is going on here? Is there some undissolved CO2 and O2 in the blood vessels as well?
Thank you in advance
So I was thinking about how oxygen and CO2 are exchanged in the blood, and how a lot of this can be boiled down to differences in partial pressure. I am familiar with Henry's Law and how the pressure of the gas above a liquid will in turn affect the concentration of the gas in the liquid itself; however, I'm wondering how this is possible in blood vessels, where there is (I assume) no gas above the liquid in which to equalize with. Blood vessels seem, to me, to be purely liquid, so what is going on here? Is there some undissolved CO2 and O2 in the blood vessels as well?
Thank you in advance
Re: Partial Pressure in the Blood
Hi. I am not a biophysicist. But I assume that the contact between blood and gaz within the lungs is enough to make the equilibrium. I assume that the rupture of this equilibrium which happens when divers go back to the surface too quickly is related to gaz pressure at the lungs level.
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