Physiology Question

[dentheartthrob]

hi guys, I hope some one can help me out on this quesstion:

assuming that P50=26 torrs, under where p02=30 torrs, the average number of O2 molecules boud per hemoglobin molecue is closest to

a. 0.5
b. less than 1
c. almost 2
d. greater than 2
e. greater than 3

the answer is D, can anyone be kind enough and show me how it was done. thanks

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[lionelhutz]

hey there!

P50 is the pressure at which 50% of the oxygen binding sites in hemoglobin are saturated with o2 molecules. Remember that each Hgb has 4 o2 binding sites.

At 26torrs, 2 out of the 4 sites will have o2 bound to them. Since 30torrs is higher than that, we can estimate that at least 2 or more sites have o2 bound, thus the answer is D.


Hope that helped.

 

[dentheartthrob]

thanks