B2.

14d More respiration

1 The symbol equation for respiration is:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy
a Copy and complete the word equation for respiration to match the symbol equation:
glucose + __________ → __________ + __________ + energy
b Where does the glucose come from?
c Where does the O2 come from?
d Describe how CO2 gets from a cell where it is made to the air.
2 The reactions of respiration mostly take place in small structures in each cell.
a What are these structures called?
b Why are these structures found in every cell?
c Suggest in which type of cell you would find more of these structures, a heart muscle cell or a bone
cell. Explain your answer.
3 Respiration releases energy.
a Write down three things that your body uses this energy for.
b Write down one thing that a plant uses energy for that is the same in an animal. Explain why this is
the same in plants and animals.
c Write down one thing a plant uses energy for that an animal doesn’t. Explain why this is different in
plants and animals.
d Write down one thing that mammals and birds use energy for that other animals, such as reptiles,
don’t.
4 Sami and Phil used the apparatus opposite to test
whether woodlice produce carbon dioxide during
respiration. They knew that when carbon dioxide
dissolves in water it makes an acid, so they used
Universal indicator to test for it.
a The indicator showed the pH was neutral at the
start. What colour was it?
b Suggest how the colour changed when the
experiment was running. Explain your answer.
c By the end of the experiment, the indicator
showed the water had become more acidic. Sami
and Phil said this proved carbon dioxide had been
released by the woodlice. Do you agree with their
conclusion? Give a reason for your answer.
d How could Sami and Phil improve their
experiment so that they could get a more reliable
result?
Respiratory quotients

The equation for aerobic respiration is usually shown starting with glucose, but there are many food
chemicals that can be used during aerobic respiration to release energy. These chemicals include fats
and proteins.
The unbalanced symbol equation for the aerobic respiration of glucose is:
C6H12O6  O2  CO2  H2O
1 Write a balanced version of this equation.
You can use the respiration equation for a food chemical to calculate a value called its respiratory
quotient (RQ).
number of molecules of carbon dioxide produced
RQ 
number of molecules of oxygen used

The RQ varies depending on which chemical is being respired.

2 Calculate the RQ for glucose.
3 All carbohydrates have the same basic chemical formula: n(CH2O), where n is a different number in
different carbohydrates.
a Write a general equation for the respiration of carbohydrates. (Hint: Use the example of glucose
above to help you.)
b Calculate the RQ for all digestible carbohydrates.
4 Glycerol tripalmitate is a fat. The balanced equation below shows how it is broken down in respiration.
2C51H98O6  145O2  102CO2  98H2O
Calculate the RQ for glycerol tripalmitate.
You can also calculate RQs if you can accurately measure the volumes of gases being used and
produced by an organism as it respires.
5 Proteins vary a little more in structure than carbohydrates but, when they are broken down in
respiration, about 90 cm 3 of carbon dioxide is produced for every 100 cm 3 of oxygen used. Calculate
the RQ of protein.
By measuring volumes of gases, scientists have shown that in humans the RQ is usually around 1.0 just
after a meal. If the person then doesn’t eat for around 10 hours, the RQ slowly drops to 0.7.
6 a What does the RQ just after eating indicate?
b What does the RQ after 10 hours of not eating indicate?
c What is happening as the RQ drops slowly from 1.0 to 0.7?
7 Some people in the developing world suffer a kind of malnutrition, called kwashiorkor, which would give
an RQ of 0.9. People suffering from anorexia nervosa also have an RQ of around 0.9. What does this
imply about the chemicals they are metabolising, and why is this dangerous?