Name: _________________________________ Date: _________________

TOPIC 10: RESPIRATION

Learning Objectives:
10.1 Respiration
1. Describe respiration as the chemical reactions in all living cells that release
energy from glucose
2. State the uses of energy in living organisms including muscle contraction,
protein synthesis, cell division, active transport, growth, the passage of
electrical impulses along neurones and the maintenance of a constant body
temperature
3. Investigate and describe the effect of temperature on respiration in yeast

10.2 Aerobic respiration

1. Describe aerobic respiration as the release of a relatively large amount of
energy by the breakdown of glucose in the presence of oxygen
2. State the word equation and balanced chemical equation for aerobic
respiration

10.3 Anaerobic respiration

1. Describe anaerobic respiration as the release of a relatively small amount of
energy by the breakdown of glucose without using oxygen
2. State the word equation for anaerobic respiration in humans
3. State the word equation for anaerobic respiration in yeast
4. Explain why lactic acid builds up in muscles and blood during vigorous
exercise causing Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) or an
‘oxygen debt’
5. Outline how the oxygen debt is removed after exercise, limited to:
a) continuation of fast heart rate to transport lactic acid in blood from
muscles to the liver
b) continuation of deeper and faster breathing to supply oxygen for the
breakdown of lactic acid in the liver

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 10.1 Respiration
• Respiration is a characteristic of all living organisms. It is necessary to supply
energy which helps organisms to grow, move, excrete and reproduce.
• Respiration is the chemical reactions in all living cells that release energy
from the breakdown of glucose.
• Respiration is a series of reactions which are controlled by enzymes.
• Living organisms use energy released by respiration in many ways
including:
1. Muscle contraction
2. Protein synthesis
3. Cell division (to make new cells)
4. Growth
5. Active transport
6. The passage of electrical impulses along neurones
7. Maintenance of a constant body temperature

• Respiration can take place with oxygen (aerobically) or without oxygen

(anaerobically).

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 10.2 Aerobic respiration
• Aerobic respiration is the release of a relatively large amount of energy
by the breakdown of glucose in the presence of oxygen. It also produces
carbon dioxide and water.
• It is the complete breakdown of glucose to release a relatively large
amount of energy for use in cell processes.
• Most of chemical reactions in aerobic respiration take place in the
mitochondria.
• Aerobic respiration also can be represented in the following equations:

NOTE: During respiration, some energy is released as HEAT energy which is

needed to keep the body warm.

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 10.3 Anaerobic respiration
• Anaerobic respiration is the release of relatively small amount of energy
by the breakdown of glucose without using oxygen.
• It is the incomplete breakdown of glucose and releases a relatively small
amount of energy.
• Anaerobic respiration produces different breakdown products depending
on the type of organism it is taking place in.

Anaerobic
respiration

Yeast Muscle

Produces alcohol Produces lactic

& carbon dioxide acid

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Anaerobic Respiration in humans (muscle)

• Normally, human muscle cells respire aerobically in the presence of oxygen.

• However, anaerobic respiration mainly takes place in muscle cells during
vigorous exercise.
• When we exercise vigorously, our muscles have a higher demand for energy
than we when are resting or exercising normally. Our bodies can only
deliver so much oxygen to our muscle cells for aerobic respiration.
• In this instance, as much glucose as possible is broken down with oxygen,
and some glucose is broken down without it, producing lactic acid instead.
• There is still energy stored within the bonds of lactic acid molecules that
the cell could use; for this reason, less energy is released when glucose is
broken down anaerobically.

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What happen in the muscle cells when we exercise vigorously?

1. At the beginning of an exercise, the muscle cells first respire aerobically.

2. Soon muscle cells used up all the available oxygen.
3. Despite the increase and faster breathing rate and heartbeat, oxygen
cannot be transported to muscle cells fast enough to be used for
respiration.
4. In the absence of oxygen, muscle cells respire anaerobically where
glucose is broken down to lactic acid.
5. The build-up of lactic acid in muscle cells need to be oxidised to carbon
dioxide and water later. This causes Excess Postexercise Oxygen
Consumption (EPOC) or an ‘oxygen debt’.
6. Oxygen debt needs to be ‘repaid’ after the exercise stops through faster
heart rate and faster and deeper breathing.
NOTE: Sometimes individuals experience muscle fatigue/cramp as lactic acid
accumulates in their muscles. If the level of lactic acid exceeds their tolerance
level (depending on the individuals’ fitness), muscles stop contracting and cramp
occurs.

How is oxygen debt removed after exercise?

• Lactic acid builds up in muscle cells and lowers the pH of the cells (making
them more acidic). This could denature the enzymes in cells, so it needs to
be removed.
• Continuation of fast heart rate after exercise is to transport lactic acid in
blood from muscles to the liver.
• Continuation of deeper and faster breathing to supply oxygen for the
breakdown of lactic acid in the liver.
• In the liver, lactic acid reacts with oxygen and lactic acid is broken to form
carbon dioxide and water. This is known as ‘repaying the oxygen debt’.

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Anaerobic Respiration in Yeast (Fermentation)

• Yeasts are unicellular fungi that can respire anaerobically by breaking

down glucose without oxygen to form alcohol or ethanol and carbon
dioxide.
• Less energy is released because the alcohol molecule is relatively large
and still contains a considerable amount of chemical energy.

• We take advantage of products of anaerobic respiration in yeast by using it

in bread making (where the carbon dioxide helps dough to rise) and in
brewing (where ethanol produced makes beer).

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 Aerobic Respiration VS Anaerobic Respiration
AEROBIC RESPIRATION ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION
Oxygen is needed Oxygen is not needed

Releases a large amount of energy Releases a small amount of energy

Produces carbon dioxide and water as Animal cells: lactic acid only
waste products Yeast cells: carbon dioxide and ethanol

Complete glucose breakdown Incomplete glucose breakdown

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Investigating uptake of oxygen by respiring organisms
• We can investigate aerobic respiration in living organisms by measuring
the amount of oxygen that they take from the air.
• This is done by measuring the change in volume in an enclosed tube
containing the organisms.
• However, as they respire the organisms release carbon dioxide, which
increases the gas volume.
• The carbon dioxide must be removed from the tube using a chemical like a
soda lime or sodium hydroxide, otherwise it will make the experiment
results inaccurate.
• Any small organisms can be used in the apparatus, including seeds or
arthropods.
• This apparatus (shown below) is known as a respirometer.

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 • The apparatus consists of two tubes, one containing the living organisms,
and the other containing glass beads to act as a control.
• Once the apparatus has been set up, the movement of the coloured liquid
towards the insect will give a measure of the volume of oxygen taken up by
the insect for respiration.
• The reduction of volume in the tube increases pressure, causing the
coloured liquid to move.
• The distance moved by the liquid in a given time is measured, which will
provide the volume of oxygen taken in by the insect per minute.

Investigating the effect of temperature on the rate of respiration.

• To investigate the effect of temperature on the rate of respiration of
germinating seeds, the respirometer can be set up and the tubes
submerged in a series of water baths set at different temperatures, eg
10oC, 15oC, 20oC, 25oC, 30oC.
• The seeds should be kept in the water bath for 15 minutes before the start
of the experiment to ensure they have acclimated to the temperature.
• As respiration is an enzyme-controlled reaction, it is unlikely to work faster
beyond optimum temperature as the enzymes will denature

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What is a control?
• A control is a duplicate experiment set up with the condition being
investigated having been removed or neutralized in some way.
• In the experiments above, the control is the glass beads. As they are not
alive, they will not be respiring.
• Therefore, if the volume of oxygen in the tube with the glass beads
decreases during the experiment, we know that the condition being
investigated (respiration in living organisms) is the cause of it.
• So, a control helps to make your experiment valid.

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