Physiology 2130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Respiratory Alkalosis, Respiratory Acidosis, Carbonic Anhydrase
8 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Many chemical reactions that take place in the body, and most of the machinery inside all the cells, are very sensitive to the presence of hydrogen ions. H+ can alter the shape of proteins that act as enzymes that speed up chemical reactions. As a result, any change in the concentration of h will affect the activity of almost every cell. Therefore, it is essential that h concentration be very carefully regulated. In order to better understand what an acid is we must rst look at the hydrogen atom and ion. The hydrogen atom has a snuggle proton, which is positively charged and a single electron, which is negatively charged. A hydrogen ion (h+) is a hydrogen atom that has lost its electron, leaving only the positively charged proton. In some situations, the h+ may simply be called a proton. An acid is any molecule that will release hydrogen ions when put in a solution.
