Anatomy & Physiology › Section T · The respiratory system › Topic T.4
Transport of gases
A litre of plasma can dissolve only a few millilitres of oxygen, far too little to keep you alive. Hemoglobin solves that problem, and a clever piece of chemistry inside red blood cells carries carbon dioxide back. This topic shows how blood loads, carries and unloads both gases, and why it releases more oxygen exactly where tissues work hardest.
In this topic
- Why blood needs carriers
- Hemoglobin and saturation
- The oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve
- Worked example: how much oxygen is in blood?
- Factors that shift the curve
- Fetal hemoglobin and carbon monoxide
- Carrying carbon dioxide
- Unloading CO₂ in the lungs
- Worked example: delivery and use per minute
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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