Weight of Oxygen vs CO2 in Blood

[matthyaouw]

Hey. This probably seems like a bit of an odd question, but which do you suppose would weigh more? Blood with a somewhat average saturation or oxygen (like that which would be found in a healthy individual), or blood completely devoid of oxygen & saturated with carbon dioxide (as in if something were to die, and cease taking in oxygen)?

[edit] Terribly sorry, I meant to put this in Biology. Silly me. [/edit]

 

[chem_tr]

carboxyhaemoglobin

Hello, I think carboxyhaemoglobin weighs more than oxyhaemoglobin, since CO₂ is 44 amu (atomic mass unit) whereas O₂ is only 32 amu. Remember that there are four protoporphyrins in a haemoglobin molecule, but the result won't change. But binding constants are very different, to the advantage of oxygen.

regards, chem_tr