Respiration

6.1 Respiration releases energy from food

1. Every cell in an organism needs energy, which is obtained from food.

2. Energy from food is released by combing it with oxygen (oxidation) by a process called respiration.
3. All cells carry out respiration.

6.2 Respiration oxidizes sugars in stages

1. In combustion the fuel is combined with oxygen at high temperatures.

2. The respiration in cells takes place at low temperature because high temperatures kill the cell.
3. During respiration, sugar is oxidized in small, controlled reactions. The reactions are controlled by
enzymes. When sugar combines with oxygen, energy is released.
4. Respiration happens in the mitochondrion of the cell.
5. Carbon dioxide and water are the by-products of respiration.
6. Much of the energy from respiration is used by the cell.
7. It may be used for active transport, moving thing inside the cell, for building proteins, mitosis and
meiosis. If the cell is a special cell like a muscle which is specialized for doing that particular task,
energy is used for that too. Muscles cells need energy to contract. Nerve cells need energy to send
signals.
8. Some of the energy released from respiration is given off as heat. This is important for keeping the
body temperature for mammals.

6.3 Respiration occurs without oxygen

1. When respiration is done with oxidization is called aerobic respiration.

2. Energy can be released without oxygen, this is called anaerobic respiration.
3. Yeast is a single cell fungus and it can respire anaerobically. It breaks down sugar to alcohol.
4. Some cells in your body especially muscles do this for a short time but produces lactic acid. This is
cause of muscle ache.

6.4 Gaseous exchange occurs at gas exchange surfaces

1. Plants and animals obtain oxygen from the surrounding.

2. The part of the body through which oxygen enters the body is called the gas surface area.
3. Properties of gas exchange surfaces.
a. Thin
b. Should be near transport system
c. Moist
d. Large surface area
e. Supplied with O2

6.5 Gaseous exchange occurs in the reparatory system

1. The lung is the most important organ in the respiratory system.

 2. It is filled with many tiny spaces called air sacs or alveoli.
3. It is here the O2 diffuses into the blood.
4. Because lungs are full of spaces, lungs fell very light and spongy to touch.
5. The lungs is supplied with air by the trachea.

6.6 Air is taken down into the lungs.

The lungs and mouth

1. The air enters the body through the nose and mouth and they are separated by the palate, so you can
breath even when you are eating.
2. It is better to breath through the nose because the structure of the nose allows the air to become
warm, moist and filtered before it gets to the lungs.
3. Inside the bones are the turbinal bones which are covered with a thin membrane which contain
goblet cells, which produce mucus, which evaporates into the air making it moist.
4. Other cells have hair like projection called the cilia. They are always moving and bacteria and dust
get trapped in them and in the mucus. Cilia are found in your nose, in your trachea and bronchus.
5. They waft the mucus containing bacteria up to the back of the throat so that it doesn’t block up the
lungs.

Trachea
1. The air then passes into the windpipe or trachea. At the top of the cartilage called the epiglottis. This
closes and stops the food from going down the trachea when you swallow. This a reflex action when
the bolus touches the palate.
2. Just below the epiglottis is the voice box or the larynx. This contains the vocal chords which can be
tightened by muscles so that they make noise when air passes over them.
3. The trachea has rings of cartilage around it which keeps it open.

The Bronchi
1. The Trachea goes down the neck into the thorax. In the thorax it splits into two tubes called the
bronchus. One bronchus to each lung.
2. There it further divides into many small tubes called the bronchioles.

The alveoli
1. At the end of the each bronchiole are tin air sacs or alveoli. This where the gaseous exchange taxes
place.

6.7 Alveolar walls form the respiratory surface

1. The walls of alveoli are the respiratory surface.

2. Tiny blood vessels called capillaries are closely wrapped around the outside of the alveoli.
3. Oxygen diffuses into the blood and carbon dioxide diffuses back through the walls of the alveoli.
4. Features that make alveoli efficient respiratory surfaces:
a. The wall of both the alveoli and the capillaries are only one cell thick.
b. They have an excellent transport system: Blood is constantly pumped tot the lungs by the
pulmonary artery. This branched out to the many capillaries. Once the blood is oxygenated,
then it is taken to the heart by the pulmonary vein ready to be pumped to the rest of the body.
 c. They have a large surface area
d. They have a good supply of oxygen: the breathing movements keep all the parts of the lungs
well supplied with O2.

6.8 Ribs and diaphragm move during breathing.

1. To make air move in and out your lungs, you must keep changing the volume of the thorax. First
you must make it large so that air is sucked in. Then you must make it smaller again so that air is
squeezed out This is breathing or ventilation.
2. Two sets of muscles help you to do this. The intercostal muscles and the diaphragm.
3. 2 types of intercostal muscles, external and internal.
4. The diaphragm is large sheet of muscle and elastic tissue, which stretches across your body,
under your heart and lungs.

6.9 Breathing in is called inspiration

1. When breathing in the muscles of the diaphragm contracts. This pulls the diaphragm downwards. At
the same time the external intercostal muscles contracts and pulls the ribs upwards and outwards.
Together they increase the volume of the thorax.
2. As the volume increases, pressure falls and the air rushes into the lungs.

6.10 Breathing out is called expiration

1. When breathing out the muscles of the diaphragm relax. It springs back up into its domed shape. The
external intercostals also relax and the cage drops down. Both decrease the volume of the lungs.
2. As the volume decreases, the pressure increases and air is squeezed out of the body.

6.11 Internal intercostal muscles can force air out

1. Normally you breathe out by relaxing the intercostal muscles and the diaphragm.
2. Sometimes you need to breath out more forcefully- when coughing.
3. Then the intercoastal muscles and the muscles of the abdomen also contract (when the inter costal
muscles contract, it makes the ribs drop down even more), helping to squeeze extra air from the
lungs.

6.12 Exercise can create oxygen debt

1. When doing exercise your muscles needs a lot of oxygen quickly as the muscles need a lot of energy.
2. The mitochondria will be combing oxygen with glucose as fast as they can to provide energy for the
muscles.
3. You breathe faster and deeper to get more oxygen into your blood. Your heart beats faster to get the
oxygen as fast as possible to the muscles. Eventually a limit is reached.
4. More energy can therefore be made from anaerobic respiration, but this produces lactic acid.
5. Even when you stop exercising you continue to breath hard to break down the lactic acid.
 6. While you were exercising, you had an oxygen debt as you had made energy and paid for it without
oxygen. After the exercise, when the lactic acid is combined with oxygen you are paying for the
debt.
7. When all the lactic acid has been used up, then your heart rate and breathing goes to normal.

Smoking

6.13 Cigarette smoking damages lungs and heart.

1. Cigarette smoke will damage a persons lungs. Heavy smoking can damage the heart and the blood
vessels.
2. Even nonsmokers can suffer from coughs and bronchitis is they spend much time with smokers.
3. There are 3 tings in cigarette smoke: nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar.

6.14 Nicotine is addictive

1. Nicotine affects the brain because it’s a stimulant. It makes you more alert and active.
2. It makes the heart beat faster and increases the blood pressure.
3. People who smoke are more likely to suffer from heart disease
4. Nicotine is a very poisonous substance and it used in dome insecticides.
5. But the kidneys remove 50% of it after 15 minutes.
6. Nicotine is addictive and that’s why smokers find it difficult to give up.

6.15 Tar increases the chance of getting lung cancer

1. Normally the cells in your lungs have a protective layer.

2. Tar makes these cells divide and make a thick layer. Some these cells go on dividing and develops
into a cancer.
3. Tar causes chronic bronchitis.
4. Tar damages cilia and triggers the production of more mucus. This mucus trickles into the lungs as
the cilia don’t work.
5. Bacteria breed in the mucus and cause infections.
6. The person coughs to try and move the mucus upwards but the repeated coughing destroys the
alveoli. This makes it difficult for the person to get enough oxygen into the blood. They have
emphysema.

a. Carbon Monoxide cuts down oxygen supply

1. CO combines rapidly with haemoglobin.

2. This means there is less haemoglobin for oxygen to be transported so the cells can’t release enough
energy.
3. CO also makes the body cells less able to absorb oxygen from the blood.; This particularly affects
brain cells.
4. Babies born to smoking mother are smaller because of the effects of CO in the baby’s womb.
 6.17 Smoking will be the world’s biggest killer.
The WHO predicts that smoking will become the worlds biggest killer by 202