|
Sponsored Links
Carbonic acid (ancient name acid of air or aerial acid) has the formula H2CO3. It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, which contain small amounts of H2CO3. The salts of carbonic acids are called bicarbonates (or hydrogencarbonates) and carbonates. It is a weak acid. Carbonic acid should not be confused with carbolic acid, an antiquated name for phenol. Carbon dioxide dissolved in water is in equilibrium with carbonic acid The hydration equilibrium constant at 25°C is Kh= 1.70×10-3 hence, the majority of the carbon dioxide is not converted into carbonic acid and stays as CO2 molecules. In the absence of a catalyst, the equilibrium is reached quite slowly. The rate constants are 0.039&_160;s-1 for the forward reaction (CO2&_160;+&_160;H2O&_160;? H2CO3) and 23&_160;s-1 for the reverse reaction (H2CO3&_160;? CO2&_160;+ H2O). Carbonic acid plays a very important role as a buffer in mammalian blood. When CO2 enters the blood from various cells, it is combined with water to produce carbonic acid. It then has a H+ taken away from it to become bicarbonate (HCO3-). In order to transport the bicarbonate that is in the blood stream out of the body, it enters another red blood cell, has H+ attached to it to form carbonic acid once again, then has H2O taken away from it and is expelled from the red blood cell as CO2. Then the carbon dioxide is permitted to be expelled out of capillaries and into the lungs.
|
Carbonic Acid Subcategories
Carbonic Acid Articles
|
| 
