A large proportion of oxygen remains unused in the human blood even after its uptake by the body tissues. This O2
- acts as a reserve during muscular exercise
- raises the pCO2 of blood to 75 mm of Hg.
- is enough to keep oxyhaemoglobin saturation at 96%
- helps in releasing more O2 to the epithelial tissues.
Answer
(1) acts as a reserve during muscular exercise
Solution
As per NCERT, every 100 ml of oxygenated blood can deliver around 5 ml of O2 to the tissues under normal physiological conditions, while it carries about 20 ml of O2.
⇒ About three-fourths of the oxygen stays bound to haemoglobin (venous blood is still about 75% saturated).
∵ During muscular exercise pO2 falls and pCO2, H+ and temperature rise in the tissues, more oxyhaemoglobin dissociates.
∴ The unused O2 acts as a reserve during muscular exercise.
Answer: (1)