Respiratory Acidosis and Alkalosis Activity 1: Normal Breathing
1. At 20 seconds, pH = 7.4 2. At 40 seconds, pH = 7.4 3. At 60 seconds, pH = 7.4 4. Did the pH level of the blood change at all during normal breathing? If so, how? The pH did not change during the normal breathing. 5. Was the pH level always within the “normal” range for the human body? Yes it was. 6. Did the PCO2 level change during the course of normal breathing? If so, how? No it did not change either.
Activity 2a: Hyperventilation – Run 1
1. At 20 seconds, pH = 7.48 2. At 40 seconds, pH = 7.52 3. At 60 seconds, pH = 7.65 4. Maximum pH = 7.65 5. Did the pH level of the blood change at all during this run? If so, how? Yes it did, when the breathing The Pco2 was decreased and the pH increased as the body removed CO2 out of the blood at a faster than normal pace.
Activity 6: Renal Response to Respiratory Acidosis
1. What level of [H+] was present in the urine at each of these PCO2/pH levels? Pco2- 60/ H+ elevated, Pco2-75/ H+ elevated, Pco2-90/H+ elevated 2. What level of [HCO3-] was present in the urine at each of these PCO2/pH levels? Pco2-60/HCO3- decreased, Pco2-75/HCO3- decreased, Pco2-90/HCO3- decreased 3. Assuming that enough time has passed for the renal system to fully compensate for respiratory acidosis, would you expect PCO2 levels to increase or decrease? Would you expect blood pH levels to increase or decrease? The Pco2 levels would eventually decrease. 4. Which type of breathing resulted in PCO2 levels closest to the ones we experimented with in this activity – normal breathing, hyperventilation, or rebreathing? Rebreathing 5. Explain why this type of breathing resulted in acidosis. Because the subject was breathing air with a decreased oxygen saturation which caused excess CO2 to accumulate in the body. Excess CO2 equals excess H+ which causes a low pH.
Metabolic Acidosis and Alkalosis Activity 7: Respiratory Response to Normal metabolism
1. What is the respiratory rate? 15 bpm 2. What is the blood pH? 7.38 3. Are the blood pH and PCO2 values within normal ranges? Yes
Activity 8: Respiratory Response to Increased Metabolism
