Carbonic Acid-Bicarbonate Buffer System

removing CO2 ____ pH

increases

removing HCO3- ______ pH

decreases

acidosis: blood pH goes ____, H+ goes ____

DOWN, UP

alkalosis: blood pH goes____, H+ goes ____

UP, DOWN

respiratory acidosis is often caused by _______

hypoventilation (breathing too slow)

when does respiratory acidosis occur?

when the lungs cannot eliminate all the CO2 generated by peripheral tissues

how does the equilibrium shift during respiratory acidosis

the increased CO2 pushes the reaction to the right, increases the concentration of H+, thus decreasing pH

three major causes of metabolic acidosis

increased acid production (lactic acidosis), loss of bicarbonate (vomiting, diarrhea), impaired kidney acid secretion

how does the equilibrium shift during metabolic acidosis

excess H+ gets reacted with HCO3-, shifting the reaction to the left to form conjugate acid, thus losing HCO3- and decreasing pH

respiratory alkalosis is often caused by _______

hyperventilation, breath rate is too rapid

how does the equilibrium shift during respiratory alkalosis

CO2 concentration is too low, so the reaction shifts left to compensate, depleting the amount of H+, thus increasing H+

what causes metabolic alkalosis?

caused by elevated HCO3-

how does the equilibrium shift during metabolic alkalosis

the HCO3- is too high, causing it to bind to more H+ and shift reaction to the left, which will deplete H+ and increase pH