Question

Question #2d0ea

Answer 1

Here's how I would do it.

Explanation:

The carbonic acid/hydrogen carbonate buffer is by far the most important buffer for maintaining acid-base balance in the blood.

We have the following equilibrium:

`"H"_2"CO"_3"(aq)" + "H"_2"O(l)" ⇌ "HCO"_3^"-""(aq)" + "H"_3"O"^+"(aq)"; "p"K_text(a) = "6.10 at 37 °C"`

The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is

`color(blue)(bar(ul(|color(white)(a/a) "pH" = "p"K_"a" + log(("[HCO"_3^"-""]")/("[H"_2"CO"_3"]"))color(white)(a/a)|)))" "`

Normal blood plasma is 24 mmol/L in `"HCO"_3^"-"` and 1.2 mmol/L in `"H"_2"CO"_3`.

∴ `"pH" = 6.10 + log((24 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mmol/L"))))/(1.2 color(red)(cancel(color(black)("mmol/L"))))) = 6.10 + 1.30 = 7.40`