Life Processes: Respiration

Class 10 Science

The food material taken in during the process of nutrition is used in cells to provide energy for various life processes. Diverse organisms do this in different ways - some use oxygen to break-down glucose completely into carbon dioxide and water, some use other pathways that do not involve oxygen.

The first step is the break-down of glucose, a six-carbon molecule, into a three-carbon molecule called pyruvate. This process takes place in the cytoplasm. Further, the pyruvate may be converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide.

This process takes place in yeast during fermentation. Since this process takes place in the absence of air (oxygen), it is called anaerobic respiration.

Break-down of pyruvate using oxygen takes place in the mitochondria. This process breaks up the three-carbon pyruvate molecule to give three molecules of carbon dioxide. The other product is water. Since this process takes place in the presence of air (oxygen), it is called aerobic respiration. The release of energy in this aerobic process is a lot greater than in the anaerobic process.

Sometimes, when there is a lack of oxygen in our muscle cells, another pathway for the break-down of pyruvate is taken. Here the pyruvate is converted into lactic acid which is also a three-carbon molecule. This build-up of lactic acid in our muscles during sudden activity causes cramps.

The energy released during cellular respiration is immediately used to synthesise a molecule called ATP which is used to fuel all other activities in the cell. In these processes, ATP is broken down giving rise to a fixed amount of energy which can drive the endothermic reactions taking place in the cell.

Since the aerobic respiration pathway depends on oxygen, aerobic organisms need to ensure that there is sufficient intake of oxygen. Plants exchange gases through stomata, and the large inter-cellular spaces ensure that all cells are in contact with air. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are exchanged by diffusion here. They can go into cells, or away from them and out into the air. The direction of diffusion depends upon the environmental conditions and the requirements of the plant. At night, when there is no photosynthesis occurring, CO₂ elimination is the major exchange activity going on. During the day, CO₂ generated during respiration is used up for photosynthesis, hence there is no CO₂ release. Instead, oxygen release is the major event at this time.

Since the amount of dissolved oxygen is fairly low compared to the amount of oxygen in the air, the rate of breathing in aquatic organisms is much faster than that seen in terrestrial organisms. Fishes take in water through their mouths and force it past the gills where the dissolved oxygen is taken up by blood.

Respiration in Human Beings

In human beings, air is taken into the body through the nostrils. The air passing through the nostrils is filtered by fine hairs that line the passage. The passage is also lined with mucus which helps in this process. From here, the air passes through the throat and into the lungs. Rings of cartilage are present in the throat. These ensure that the air-passage does not collapse.

Within the lungs, the passage divides into smaller and smaller tubes which finally terminate in balloon-like structures which are called alveoli. The alveoli provide a surface where the exchange of gases can take place. The walls of the alveoli contain an extensive network of blood-vessels. 

When we breathe in, we lift our ribs and flatten our diaphragm, and the chest cavity becomes larger as a result. Because of this, air is sucked into the lungs and fills the expanded alveoli. The blood brings carbon dioxide from the rest of the body for release into the alveoli, and the oxygen in the alveolar air is taken up by blood in the alveolar blood vessels to be transported to all the cells in the body. During the breathing cycle, when air is taken in and let out, the lungs always contain a residual volume of air so that there is sufficient time for oxygen to be absorbed and for the carbon dioxide to be released.

When the body size of animals is large, the diffusion pressure alone cannot take care of oxygen delivery to all parts of the body. Instead, respiratory pigments take up oxygen from the air in the lungs and carry it to tissues which are deficient in oxygen before releasing it. In human beings, the respiratory pigment is haemoglobin which has a very high affinity for oxygen. This pigment is present in the red blood corpuscles. Carbon dioxide is more soluble in water than oxygen is and hence is mostly transported in the dissolved form in our blood.