Have to give credit to the Super Nurse in my life, my mom, for this one. She explained respiratory and metabolic alkalosis and acidosis in a way that made it really simple.
Remember ROME---> Respiratory-Opposite Metabolic-Equal
If your pH is low and your PCO2 (*partial pressure of carbon dioxide) is high: high/low is opposite. So its respiratory, and you know its acidosis because the pH is low.
If your pH is high and your HCO3 is high. high/high is equal, so its metabolic. and you know its alkalosis because the pH is high
*partial pressure is the pressure exerted by one gas in a mixture
