Renal Biochemistry Acid -Base Chemistry Flashcards
What is a buffer.
A buffer is a solution that works to maintain pH (realistically only slight variations in pH)
Explain how a buffer functions from a chemistry standpoint.
If a system is pushed out of homeostatic equilibrium and has an increase in H+ (lowered pH), then the acid-base buffer equilibrium will shift left in order to reform a reactant and drive the pH back.
Effectively, we can carry protons out of solution by reforming reactant. This will drive pH back to normal (somewhat).
A great example of this is out bicarbonate buffer system.
Explain how hydrogen bonds function in the structure of water
Water is formed via hydrogen bonds.
The 2H+ atoms have a partial positive charge and the O atom has a partial negative charge. => Water has a dipoles.
Bonds associated with water are always breaking and reforming.
How do hydrogen bonds affect water when its in the presence of polar substrates.
Hydrogen bonds allow water to dissolve.
How does high temperature affect water?
High temperature leads to heat absorption. When heat is absorbed, hydrogen bonds are broken and water molecules can move freely.
“Ice melting on sidewalk”
Explain high heat of fusion of water.
Heat that needs to be removed from system in order to freeze water. Water can hold a lot of heat and needs to give off a lot of heat to change states.
Explain high heat of vaporization of water
The amount of heat required to convert liquid water into gaseous water (aka steam). Water’s high heat of vaporization is thanks to those pesky hydrogen bonds. Water molecules at the surface need to be moving really fast to break free into the air.
Explain high heat capacity of water
Heat capacity => capability for a molecule to absorb heat energy.
Water has a very high heat capacity which means that waters temperature does not fluctuate very quickly. This is very good in biological systems for internal regulation.
Ex) Because the body is primarily composed of water, walking outside does not cause my body temperature to drastically decline on a cold day.
Explain the high thermal conductivity of water.
Thermal conductivity is a measure of a materials ability to pass heat through it.
Materials with a high thermal conductivity can effectively transfer heat and readily take up heat from their environment.
Therefore, water can effectively transfer and take in heat.
Discuss water as a solvent.
Water is an excellent solvent because it can cause solutions to disassociate
Water also have the ability to self-dissociate
Explain the relationship b/w pH and pOH
high pH, low pOH
low pH, high pOH
Strong acids to memorize
Hydrogen chloride; HCL Hydrogen bromide; HBr Hydrogen iodide; HI Nitric acid; HNO3 Perchloric acid; HClO4 Sulfuric acid; H2SO4** **Only the first dissociation is considered strong, HSO4- is a weak acid; but compared to other weak acids, HSO4- is actually quite strong – but since it doesn’t completely dissociate in water, we call it a weak acid.
Strong bases to memorize
Lithium hydroxide; LiOH Sodium hydroxide; NaOH Potassium hydroxide; KOH Barium hydroxide; Ba(OH)2 Magnesium hydroxide; Mg(OH)2***
***Mg(OH)2 may be ingested (antiacid, laxative) because it has very low solubility in water, (so some might argue about its inclusion in this list). However, any Mg(OH)2 that dissolves dissociates completely.
Equation for pH
pH = -log [H+]
Equation for pOH
pOH = -log[OH-]
