Question

Hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, carries o2 from the lungs to the body's cells. iron (as ferrous ion, fe2+) makes up 0.33 mass % of hemoglobin. if the molar mass of hemoglobin is 6.8 Ã 104 g/mol, how many fe2+ ions are in one molecule?

Answer 1

In order to determine the number of Fe ions, we first determine the mass mass of iron present. This is determined using:

Mass of Fe = 0.33% of mass of hemoglobin

Mass of hemoglobin = 6.8 x 10⁴ g/mol

Mass of Fe = 0.0033 * 6.8 x 10⁴
Mass of Fe = 224.4 g/mol

Now, we know that the atomic mass of Fe is 55.85 g/mol

We may determine the mass of iron by the mass of each molecule of ion to determine the number present, which is:

224/55.85 = 4 moles of Fe ions present per mole of hemoglobin.