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Asked by theboss123 to Dilwar, Lou, Simon, Susan on 20 Nov 2013.
Question: is blood accutaly blue in our body ? if not what colour is it ?
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Susan Skelton answered on 20 Nov 2013:
Hi theboss!
Nope, blood isn’t blue. You see your blood when you cut yourself and it’s bright red!
Veins just look blue because only blue light can penetrate the thin layer of fat which lies on top of your veins. Therefore only blue light reaches the veins and is reflected back to your eyes!
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Simon Langley-Evans answered on 20 Nov 2013:
Boss. Blood is always red, but can vary in the shade of red. When blood first leaves the heart it is low in oxygen because it has transferred it to all parts of the body. It is a much darker red. When it passes through the lungs it picks up oxygen and becomes scarlet red. It goes back to the heart and is pumped all around the body.
If we are poisoned by carbon monoxide then the blood becomes a really amazing cherry red colour.
Comments
Simon commented on :
Boss- I forgot a bit of my answer. Our blood is red because the chemical we use to carry oxygen is haemoglobin. That contains the metal iron, and that gives the red colour. Molluscs (things like snails and slugs and lots of sea creatures) DO have blue blood. That is because they use a chemical called haemocyanin to carry oxygen and that has a blue colour. Heamocyanin is made using copper instead of iron.
ismasha commented on :
what do yo like about science the most?
Susan commented on :
Hi ismasha!
I love that we never know what is going to happen next! So many amazing things are just waiting to be discovered. I also really like that so many of our discoveries can be really useful to people – I want my work to make a real difference in the world, and I think that is very possible in science.
theboss123 commented on :
hey ismasha ):[