Chemistry for Physiology

Gases can be expanded and compressed as their pressure changes, and this makes determining their dissolved concentration problematical. For a gas to dissolve in water, it must be in contact with the water. The amount of gas that will dissolve in water is proportional to the pressure (or partial pressure) of the gas that is above and in contact with the water surface. It is conventional (and convenient) to use the partial pressure (in mmHg) of the gas in contact as a statement of the amount of dissolved gas.

Glycolipids are lipids not proteins.

Na is short for natrium which is the Latin name for sodium.

An “alcohol” has an oxygen bonded to a hydrogen (-OH) atom as a functional group. Choice A has a carboxylic acid (-COOH) functional group.

% concentration states how many grams of solute are in 100 ml of solution. 10 g per 250 ml is the same as 10÷2.5 per 100 ml. This is 4%

A salt is produced when an acid reacts with a base. Hence it has two words in its name: the first comes from the base (potassium hydroxide), while the second word is derived from the name of the acid (hydrochloric acid).

A milliosmole (mosmol) is 10−³ × (6 × 10²³) particles which is 6 × 10²⁰. Choice B means 1000× the correct answer. Choice D means 1/1000 × the correct answer.

RBC in contact with a hypertonic solution would lose water to the solution and shrink. This would cause their plasma membrane to crenate (wrinkle).

Solutions with high “osmotic pressure” are concentrated solutions, and so water will diffuse into such solutions from solutions of lower concentration – a process known as osmosis. The other answers are nonsense.

Dialysis refers to movement of solutes (not water). Choice D is wrong as filtration refers to movement due to hydrostatic pressure difference from the solution under higher pressure to low pressure.