Respiration in Organisms: Definition and Types

Ans. The similarities between aerobic and anaerobic respiration are as follows:

• In both the processes, food is broken down to release energy.
• Both processes produce byproducts.
• Both take place inside cells.

Ans. Running requires a lot of energy and Adenosine Triphosphate is produced by breaking down glucose, which is a rapid source of energy. As a result, while running all of the reserve energy of the athlete will be used and more oxygen will be required for the generation of fresh ATP. As a result, the athlete breathes faster and deeper than usual after finishing the race.

Ans. The air in our environment is very polluted. It consists of various particles like pollen, dust, smoke, dirt etc. While breathing, these particles move through the nasal cavity. Our nasal cavity has various small hairs. When we inhale the polluted air, the particles present in the air get trapped by the hairs of the nasal cavity. This trapping of dirt particles causes irritation in the nose. 

Ans. Plants carry out the process of respiration just like all other living beings on the earth. During respiration, oxygen is inhaled and carbon dioxide is exhaled out. Oxygen is utilized in the breakdown of glucose in the cells and water and carbon dioxide is released. Every part of the plant's body carries out the process of respiration. For example, Leaves perform the gaseous exchange through a cell structure which is stomata. Roots get the air from the air spaces which are present in the soil.

Ans. The process of external respiration is performed in a number of different ways. Animals that lack specialized organs for respiration can rely on diffusion across external tissue surfaces to obtain oxygen. In organisms such as roundworms, gasses and nutrients are exchanged through the external environment by diffusion across the surface of the animal body. Insects and spiders have respiratory organs called trachea, while fish have gills for gaseous exchange.

Internal Respiration is the transportation of gasses between the blood and body tissues. Oxygen within the lungs diffuses across thin epithelium of lung alveoli into surrounding capillaries which contain oxygen depleted blood. The blood rich in oxygen is transported by circulatory system from lung capillaries to body cells and tissues. 

Cellular Respiration - The oxygen which is obtained from internal respiration is used by the cells in cellular respiration. In order to access the energy stored in the food we eat, biological molecules composing foods must be broken down into the forms which can be utilized by the body. As the blood is circulated throughout the body, nutrients are transported to the cells of the body. In this process, glucose obtained from the digestion is split up into its constituent parts for the production of energy. 

Ans. Aerobic respiration is a sequence of enzyme controlled events which releases and makes accessible the energy accumulated in carbohydrates and lipids through the process of photosynthesis. Glycolysis, the link reaction, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation are the four different phases involved. During glycolysis, the units of glucose are divided into two pyruvates via an enzyme controlled series of events.

Ans. Methanogens are archaea-related prokaryotes. They are called after the fact that they create methane as a result of oxidizing carbohydrates in the lack of oxygen. 

• This process is known as methanogenesis. 
• They are another type of ferment which produces a distinct alcohol, methanol. 
• This is also called methanol toxicity. Methanogens oxidize fiber from plants to make methanol rather than ethyl alcohol as yeasts do. 

C₆H₁₂O₆ -> CH₃OH + CO₂ + energy

Ans. With the aim of entering the respiratory pathway, fatty acids and proteins are reduced to acetyl CoA. During the synthesis of proteins and fats, substances are removed from the respiratory pathway and further used in anabolism. 

Anabolism is a formation of substances and catabolism is the breakdown of substances. The respiratory pathway is also referred to as the amphibolic pathway as both the processes of anabolism and catabolism take place. 

Ans. The differences between photosynthesis and respiration are as follows:

Ans. Respiration is different from combustion in the way that the liberation of energy gradually steps in comparison to combustion. It even differs from combustion in that all energy in glucose is released at one take due to combustion. 

Ans. During aerobic respiration, oxygen is consumed and carbon dioxide is released. The ratio of the volume of carbon dioxide to the volume of oxygen consumed in respiration is called respiratory quotient (RQ) or respiratory ratio. 

RQ = Volume of carbon dioxide evolved / Volume of oxygen consumed

The RQ (Respiratory quotient) is the factor which depends upon the respiratory substrate when carbohydrates are used as a substrate. 

C₆H₁₂O₆ - 2C₂H₅OH + 2CO + Energy (247 KJ)

Total energy yield from 38 ATP molecules is coming out to be 1298KJ. The energy which is released by one molecule of glucose on complete oxidation comes out to be 2870 KJ. Hence, the efficiency comes out to be 45%. Most of the energy generated during respiration is released in the form of heat. 

Ans. The existence of oxygen is essential for complete aerobic respiration. It escalates the process by removing hydrogen from the system. In the stage of photophosphorylation, light energy is used for the production of proton gradient, that’s why it is known as oxidative photophosphorylation. ATP will not be produced if electrons will not through the coenzymes and there will be no proton jump which is impossible without oxygen.