Question

person’s hemoglobin concentration measures 13 grams per dL of blood.

 a) Convert this concentration to g/L of blood.

b) use your answer from part a to express this patient’s hemoglobin concentration in mM.

Answer 1

Hb (Hemoglobin) concentration = 13 g/dL

(a) Conversion to g/L of blood

We know that 1 L = 10 dL

i.e. 1 dL = 1/10 L = 0.1 L

Hb concentration = (13/ 0.1) g/L = 130 g/L

(b) Molecular weight of Hb = 64458 g/mol

Hb is made up of 4 subunits and each subunit weighs around 16000 Daltons. So total weight is equal to 64000 Daltons (64,458 g/mol).

Now, Molarity = (number of moles of Hb/ Vol of solution in litres )

Number of moles of Hb = Mass/molar mass

= = 2.016 × 10^-3 moles

Molarity =( 2.016 × 10^-3 )/ 1 moles/L

= 2.02 × 10^-3 M

= 2.02 mM

Also we can calculate the same by,

1 g/dL = 0.1551 mmol/L Hb

So, 13 g/dL = 13 × 0.1551 mM Hb

= 2.02 mM

​​​​​​​Thus the patient's hemoglobin concentration is 2.02 mM