Le Chatelier's Principle and Common Ion Effect - MCAT Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems

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Question

Carbonic anhydrase is an important enzyme that allows CO2 and H2O to be converted into H2CO3. In addition to allowing CO2 to be dissolved into the blood and transported to the lungs for exhalation, the products of the carbonic anhydrase reaction, H2CO3 and a related compound HCO3-, also serve to control the pH of the blood to prevent acidosis or alkalosis. The carbonic anhydrase reaction and acid-base reaction are presented below.

CO2 + H2O H2CO3

H2CO3 HCO3- + H+

While the kidney is able to compensate for many acid/base changes in our bodies, vomiting is a temporary cause of acid/base imbalance. While vomiting may allow our bodies to get rid of toxic substances, it also causes us to lose gastric acid, which influences blood pH. How would the loss of gastric acid change the pH of our blood?

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Answer

This is an undercover Le Chatlier shift problem. The question tells us that vomiting causes us to lose gastric acid. In the equation that we can see above, losing H+ (in HCl) would pull the reaction to the right, increasing the concentration of HCO3-. Increasing the concentration of the base HCO3- increases the pH, leading the blood to become more basic.

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