Biology essay on red blood cells

[addicted]

I'm supposed to answer the following questions on this graph/subject, (I typed out everything it says.) and I dont understand it.. I'm homeschooled so I just cant ask a teacher and no one I know knows anything about it.. and I'm just so confused and stressed out (I get easily stressed, and then never shut up..)


Red blood cells are able to transport oxygen throughout the body because oxygen binds to hemoglobin molecules within the blood cells. To learn how the concentration of oxygen in tissues affects the binding of oxygen to the hemoglobin molecule, researchers devised the following study. Samples of human blood were taken from various tissues. In each sample, the researchers measured the amount of dissolved oxygen in the tissue and isolated the hemoglobin. The amount of isolated hemoglobin was measured and then separated to determine how much of the hemoglobin had all of its binding sites filled with oxygen. The amount of saturate hemoglobin was compared with the total amount of hemoglobin to yield the percentage of hemoglobin saturation. Some results of the study are shown in the graph. Use the graph to answer the questions that follow.

a. If the concentration of oxygen in the lung tissues is about 9%, what is the hemoglobin saturation of the red blood cells in the lungs?
b. If the concentration of oxygen in a sample of body tissue is 4%, what is the hemoglobin saturation of the red blood cells in the sample?
c. What happens to the hemoglobin saturation of the red blood cells as the cells move to tissues that have lower oxygen concentrations?
d. What must happen to the oxygen bound to the hemoglobin as the red blood cells move to tissues with lower oxygen concentration?

Heres a pic of the graph:
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8748 ... 024jm7.jpg

[mith]

Do you understand a graph? a and b just ask you to read off values.

[addicted]

Okay I now feel extremely embarassed but I guess I wont get help without being honest, so nope.. I dont understand graphs at all.

And I also now look like a complete moron.

[mith]

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/math4 ... raph4l.cfm

Morons are better than people who don't ask for help.

[addicted]

^thanks for that.. it helped alot, except I still really dont understand the essay, I just dont get the whole red blood cell thing and what I'm supposed to do.

[mith]

Basically the graph shows you the concentration of oxygen in blood cells vs in tissues.
So basically just read off points on the graph for the first part.

The last question asks you what the overall trend is. Note that less oxygen carried by hemoglobin means that it is releasing oxygen, if the hemoglobin is carrying more oxygen, it means oxygen is not being released to the tissues.