Opening the book…
1. Explain how respiration (lungs) helps maintain blood serum pH during acidosis.
Write the two equilibrium equations responsible for maintaining pH
Equation 1: Show CO2 dissolving in water.
Equation 2: Show the dissociation of carbonic acid in water.
a. What happens to the pH of the blood under acidosis conditions?
b. What happens to the concentration of H3O+ (aq) under acidosis conditions?
c. In which direction does the rate increase in equation 2?
d. What happens to the concentration of H2CO3 (aq) as a result of the shift?
e. In which direction does the rate increase in equation 1?
f. What happens to the concentration of CO2 (g) as a result of the shift?
g. How do the lungs compensate for the changes in [CO2]?
This page titled 8.4.1: Respiration Helps Maintain Blood pH During Acidosis was last modified on Mon, 16 Feb 2026 18:55:37 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Deboleena Roy.
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