Question

The following reactions are known to occur in the body. If $ C{O_2} $ escapes from the system:
 $ C{O_2} + {H_2}O \rightleftharpoons {H_2}C{O_3} \rightleftharpoons {H^ + } + HC{O_3}^{ - 1} $
(A) pH will decrease
(B) Hydrogen ion concentration will diminish
(C) $ {H_2}C{O_3} $ concentration will remain unchanged
(D) The forward reaction will be favoured

Answer 1

Hint: Here we need to know that if the carbon dioxide escapes from the body then according to the equation given above $ {H_2}C{O_3} $ dissociates more towards the left to give carbon dioxide and further the concentration of the $ {H^ + } $ will decrease.

Complete step by step solution:
Here the following reaction occurs in the human body which is expressed as:
 $ C{O_2} + {H_2}O \rightleftharpoons {H_2}C{O_3} \rightleftharpoons {H^ + } + HC{O_3}^{ - 1} $
Here we need to know that if the carbon dioxide escapes from the body then according to the equation given above $ {H_2}C{O_3} $ dissociates more towards the left to give carbon dioxide and further the concentration of the $ {H^ + } $ will decrease. Moreover when we see the reaction we found out that the reaction is a equilibrium reaction.then we can also say that when the carbon dioxide escapes from the body then the equilibrium will shift to left so that more carbon dioxide is produced which will further nullify the effect of lost carbon dioxide. Due to this, the hydrogen ion concentration will decrease.
Further we will discuss how and where this reaction occurs in the body.so when the carbon dioxide is breathed into the lungs it there gets dissolved in the water.further gets dissolved across the membrane and then further gets into the bloodstream. further it is interesting to discuss here that the further it combines with the water and forms carbonic acid making the blood acidic.
Hence, the correct option is B.

Note:
It is interesting to note that when the carbon dioxide quantity increases then the pH goes beyond seven. This further leads to the electrolytes imbalance. In addition the body uses other mechanisms in order to compensate for the excess of carbon dioxide if it is increased.