Students use evidence from the investigation to propose explanations for how the body gets rid of carbon dioxide, a by-product of cell metabolism. Students use mathematics to write balanced equations for a neutralization reaction and for carbonic acid formation. In this case carbonic acid is converted to carbon dioxide. Chemical Reactions, Grades 9-12 Chemical reactions occur all around us, including in our bodies. Complex chemical reactions take place constantly in our bodies, including the catalytic conversion of carbonic acid to carbon dioxide that occurs in the span of a few seconds that the blood spends in the lungs.
Reaction rates depend in part on temperature.
In this system, the main difference observed is due to the decrease in solubility of carbon dioxide as the temperature increases. The decrease in carbon dioxide in turn affects the pH, which affects the reactivity of the enzyme. Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for chemical reactions in living things. Structure and Properties of Matter, Grades 9-12 Carbon atoms bond to form a variety of structures, including molecules that are essential to life. Proteins are one class of these biochemical molecules.