Solubility and the Need for Bioinorganic Metal Ion Transport and Storage
This is an in class exercise that I use to emphasize the need for metal ion transport and storage in biochemistry. Applying the Van't Hoff equation to the Ksp value at 25°C for ferric hydroxide, students calculate the iron concentration at which ferric hydroxide would begin to precipitate out in the blood. It' s an interesting problem that requires very little math beyond that used in gen chem, and the answer is in stark contrast to the amount of iron that we actually store in our bodies.