why is blood red?

Question

I was told inside the body it is BLUE NOT RED

Answer 1

it is red if the iron in hemoglobin is oxidized or carrying oxygen. After the hemoglobin gives up the oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide, then it loses its red color and appears to be dark red. The blood coming from the lungs and heart is red because the blood is oxygenated. After giving up the oxygen in the capillaries, the blood returns via the veins and therefore the blood in the veins appear dark red. It is only blue on color charts.

Answer 2

Blood is always red. It is either bright red when it is oxygenated by the lungs or it is a dull red after it has given up it's oxygen to the cells in the body. The blue is merely the color of the blood vessel. Blood is red because when iron binds to hemoglobin it absorbs all frequencies of light except red. The red gets reflected back off of the molecule and your eye sees the red.

Answer 3

Blood is red because the iron on the hemoglobin makes it appear reddish. Think of something that is rusting, it has that reddish color.

In humans and other hemoglobin-using creatures, oxygenated blood is bright red. This is due to oxygenated iron in the red blood cells. Deoxygenated blood is a darker shade of red, which can be seen during blood donation and when venous blood samples are taken. However, due to an optical effect caused by the way in which light penetrates through the skin, veins typically appear blue in colour. This has led to a common misconception that venous blood is blue before it is exposed to air. Another reason for this misconception is that medical charts always show venous blood as blue in order to distinguish it from arterial blood which is depicted as red on the same chart.

Answer 4

blood is red because of the hemoglobin containing iron in the red blood cells. It is bright red when it is oxygenated in the lungs. In the veins on the way back to the lungs it is dark red. Blood is not blue. Have you ever cut yourself?

Answer 5

Oh, boy! It is red inside the body; I know, I've seen in there. There is the expression, "Blue Bloods", referring to the aristocracy or the "rich and famous" in the States. If you look at your veins in your arms and legs, they are "blue".
Blood is red because hemoglobin contains iron, which "rusts" when it combines with oxygen, making it red. Once it loses its oxygen to the cells in the body and takes on all the wastes from the cells, it turns "blue". If you want, you could say that blood is "clear" and the oxygen or wastes make it "red" or "blue".
And, yes, bones and muscles ARE white; I've seen them too.

Answer 6

Blood is basically because of the complex haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is found in the red blood cells and when it is attatched to Oxygen it is red but when oxygen from the haemoglobin is released from the blood to the body tissue (where it is used to make energy) the haemoglobin changes chemical shape and appears blue. When you bleed the deoxygenated blood immediately turns red because the air supplies it with it with oxygen. Veins which return to your heart are full of deoxygenated blood and hence veins like the ones on ur hands look blue (especialy if your pale)

Answer 7

Oxygenated blood is red for the same reason that rusty metal is a reddish color; its the oxidated state of the iron in the hemoglobin in red blood cells. Blood bound to oxygen is red, while oxygen deficient blood is blue again because of the oxidation state of the iron atoms. Thats why your veins are blue, because the blood has lost much of its oxygen to your tissues.

Answer 8

Go donate blood. That is venous blood and does not get exposed to oxygen. Go and see what color is in the bag, it will be dark red. Refer to Swiss princess for a reason why it is NOT BLUE!!!!

Answer 9

question already answered but I'd like to specify that "blue" blood is not that blue but darker (and found in veins). More importantly it is not deoxygenated (as in no O2 left): just look at the dissociation curve for O2 and hemoglobin.

Answer 10

Blood is a bluish color. We only see it as red because we only see it outside the body, in the presence of oxygen. the oxygen turns the blood red.