• Question: What is the chemical formula of blood?

    Asked by anon-346845 on 14 Jan 2023.
    • Photo: Lorna Dawson

      Lorna Dawson answered on 14 Jan 2023:

      Blood is made up of:
      cellular material (99% red blood cells, with white blood cells and platelets making up the rest), water, amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, hormones, vitamins, electrolytes, dissolved gasses, and cellular waste material.

    • Photo: Prof. W Meier-Augenstein

      Prof. W Meier-Augenstein answered on 15 Jan 2023:

      As Lorna has explained already, blood is not a single chemical compound but a complex mixture of water, dissolved bicarbonate, red blood cells, white blood cells, and proteins (such as albumin, immunoglobulins), and this list only includes the major components. Hence, there is no encompassing chemical formula for blood.

    • Photo: Katy Bruce

      Katy Bruce answered on 23 Jan 2023:

      Professors Dawson and Meier-Augenstein have already given fantastic answers to your question and explained that blood is a complex mixture of a variety of different liquids and solids. However, if you’re after a chemical formula for something that’s contained within blood then glucose (sugar) is C6H12O6 – I learnt that in biology at school! 😁

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