Choose the correct answer from each of the four options given below:
The mineral ion needed for the formation of blood clot is:
Topic: Calcium in blood clotting
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Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(c) Calcium.
CALCIUM ions are essential at several steps of the clotting cascade — in particular the conversion of PROTHROMBIN into THROMBIN.
THE PROOF IS PRACTICAL: blood collected with a calcium-removing agent such as sodium citrate will NOT clot at all. That is exactly how blood is kept liquid in a blood bank.
Option (d) IRON is the trap, because it is the mineral students associate most strongly with blood — but iron belongs to HAEMOGLOBIN and oxygen TRANSPORT, not to clotting.
Keep the mineral functions apart: IRON — haemoglobin CALCIUM — clotting, and bones and teeth IODINE — thyroxine SODIUM and POTASSIUM — nerve impulse transmission
VITAMIN K is also required for clotting, for the synthesis of prothrombin in the liver — worth adding if a question asks for a vitamin.
Calcium.