Inorganic ions Flashcards
1
Q
What is an ion?
A
an atom that has an electric charge
2
Q
What is a cation?
A
an ion with a positive charge
3
Q
What is an anion?
A
an ion with a negative charge
4
Q
What is an inorganic ion?
A
ions which don’t contain carbon
5
Q
When do inorganic ions occur?
A
in solution in the cytoplasm and bodily fluids of organisms (some in high concs, some in very low concs - an ions role determines whether it is found in high/low concs and each ion has a specific role depending on its properties
6
Q
What is the role of iron ions?
A
- haemoglobin is made up of 4 different polypeptide chains, each with an iron ion in the centre
- it is the iron ions that binds to the oxygen
- when oxygen is bound to the FE2+ ions temporarily become an FE3+ ion until the oxygen is released
7
Q
What is the role of hydrogen ions?
A
- pH is calculated based on the conc of hydrogen ions in he environment = the more hydrogen ions present, the lower the pH
8
Q
What is the role of sodium ions?
A
used in co-transport with a molecule of glucose/amino acids so they can be transported into a cell
9
Q
What is the role of phosphate ions?
A
- when phosphate ion is attached to another molecule it is known as a phosphate group
- bonds between phosphate group store energy in ATP
- phosphate groups in DNA/RNA allow nucleotides tot join to form polynucleotides
