Respiration and Metabolism Flashcards
You need energy to keep your body going. Energy comes from food, and it's transferred by respiration. Respiration is NOT "breathing in and out".
What does respiration transfers? Why?
Respiration transfers the energy that the cell need to do just about everything. This energy is used for all living processes. It happens in our bodies and in plants as it’s hp they transfer energy to their cells.
What respiration is and isn’t.
Respiration is NOT breathing in and out. Respiration is the process of trasferring energy from the breakdown of glucose (sugar) and it goes on in every cell in your body continuously.
What does exothermic means?
A reaction which transfers energy to the surroundings. Respiration is exothermic, therefore, it transfers energy to the environment.
What are the three examples of how organisms use the energy transferred by respiration?
- To build up large molecules from smaller ones (like proteins from amino acids).
- In animals (we are animals) it’s used to allow the muscle to contract so they can move.
- In mammals and birds the energy is used to keep their body temperatures steady in colder surroundings.
In some chemical reactions, large molecules are made from smaller ones. List three of them.
- Lots of small glucose molecules are joined together in reactions to form starch (a storage molecule in plan cells), glycogen (a storage molecule in animal cells) and cellulose (a component of plant cell walls).
- Lipid molecules are each made from one molecule of glycerol and three fatty acids.
- Glucose is combined with nitrate ions to make amino acids, which then are made into proteins.
In some chemical reactions, larger molecules are broken down into small ones. List two of them.
- Glucose is broken down in respiration. Respiration transfers energy to power all the reactions in the body that make molecules.
- Excess protein is broken down in a reaction to produce urea. Urea is then excreted in urina.
