Essential Inorganic Compounds

Question 1

What are the 4 important inorganic compounds important to the body?

Answer 1

• Water (H2O)
• Salts (HCl)
• Acids
• Bases
• these don’t contain both carbon and hydrogen (one or the other)

Question 2

Why is water an essential inorganic compound?

Answer 2

• is essential for life
• up to 70% of adult body weight
• water is contained in cells and interstitial fluid
• water is a lubricator (reduces friction and cushions)
• removes waste
• regulates temperature
• absorbs and dissipates heat
• component of liquid mixtures
• has a role in chemical reactions

Question 3

What are the types of liquid mixtures?

Answer 3

• Solutions
• Colloids
• Suspensions

Question 4

What is a solution?

Answer 4

• homogeneous mixture
• solute molecules dispersed evenly in a solution
• solute is dissolved in a solvent (ex. salt dissolves in water)

Question 5

Why is water the universal solvent?

Answer 5

It can form hydrogen bonds with the solutes that are dissolved in water

Question 6

What does concentration mean?

Answer 6

How much solute is dissolved in the solvent
- weight/volume or mole/litres
- ex. normal blood glucose is 100mg/dL (or 5.5 mmol/L)

Question 7

What are colloids?

Answer 7

• heavy solutions
• solute particles are in clumps of molecules that make the mixture opaque
• ex. milk, cream

Question 8

What are suspensions?

Answer 8

• heavier substances temporarily suspended in a liquid that settles out, or undergo sedimentation
• ex. blood cells in plasma

Question 9

What is a dehydration synthesis/consolidation reaction?

Answer 9

• joining individual units or monomers together to build a larger molecule from smaller units
• also known as condensation reaction because water is lost during the reaction
• endergonic (needs input of energy - ATP)
• anabolic reaction because it is building a larger molecule from smaller subunits

Question 10

What is a hydrolysis reaction?

Answer 10

• breaking down of a larger molecule into monomers
• adding water (hydro) and lysing (breaking apart)
• catabolic because it is breaking down a substance
• exergonic (releases energy)

Question 11

What are salts?

Answer 11

• they are formed when ions form ionic bonds with each other
• they readily dissolve in water and dissociate into ions (this differentiates them from acids and bases)
• when salt dissolves in water, each of the ions is surrounded by water molecules forming dipole ion bonds (become electrolytes that conduct electrical current)

Question 12

What happens to acids and bases when their electrolytes dissociate in water?

Answer 12

It releases hydrogen ions (H+) or hydroxyl ions (OH-)

Question 13

What does an acid do?

Answer 13

It releases hydrogen atoms
- ex. protons in a solution
- there are strong (HCl) and weak (acetic acid) acids
- hydrogen ions are also called protons because when hydrogen loses its only electron, the only thing that’s left is the proton in the nucleus

Question 14

What does a base do?

Answer 14

It releases hydroxyl ions
- it also accepts proton that are already present in solution
- there are strong bases (KOH) and weak bases (HCO3-), which attracts H+

Question 15

Why is the degree of dissociation (concentration) of an ion in a solution important in acids and bases?

Answer 15

It determines the strength of the acid/base

Question 16

What is pH?

Answer 16

The relative acidity/alkalinity (basicity) o fa solution
- on a scale of 0-14
- 0 being extremely acidic (battery acid)
- 7 being neutral (blood)
- 14 being extremely basic (liquid drain cleaner)

Question 17

What is the homeostasis of pH?

Answer 17

• pH of the blood must maintain around 7.4
• Homeostatic mechanisms help maintain this (ex. inhaling O2, exhaling CO2)
• CO2 has the ability to dissolve in water and form a weak acid (carbonic acid) which needs to be breathed out to maintain blood pH
• pH is also maintain by the excretion of chemicals in the urine

Question 18

What do buffer systems do?

Answer 18

They neutralize small amounts of acids or bases in the fluids