GAS EXCHANGE

Chapter 11

Respiration:
Every living cell needs energy
Human cells need energy for
 Contacting muscles (to move parts of body)
 Making proteins (to link amino acids)
 Cell division (to repair damaged tissues)
 Active transport (to move substances across cell membranes via concentration
gradient)
 Transmitting nerve impulses (to transfer information across body quickly)
 Producing heat (to keep body temperature constant)
The main nutrient cells need for energy is glucose. Cells have to break down glucose
molecules to release the energy from them. They do this in a series of metabolic reactions
called respiration.

Aerobic respiration:
The chemical reactions in cells that use oxygen to break down nutrient molecules to release
energy.

Glucose + oxygen  Carbon dioxide + water

C6H12O6  6CO2 + 6H2O

Anerobic Respiration
The chemical reactions that occur in cells that break down nutrient molecules to release
energy without using oxygen.
Anerobic respiration releases a lot less energy per glucose molecule than aerobic respiration

Anaerobic respiration in muscles during vigorous respiration; this happens when your lungs
and heart cannot supply oxygen to your muscles as quickly as they are using them:
Glucose  lactic acid

Yeast can respire anaerobically and break down glucose to alcohol

Anerobic respiration in the microorganism yeast
Glucose  alcohol + carbon dioxide
C6H12O6  2C2H5OH + 2CO2
Gas exchange in humans:
For aerobic respiration 2 substances are needed; glucose and oxygen
There are special areas where oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves, these are surfaces
for gas exchange. These surfaces are permeable.
They have characteristics to make the process quick and efficient:
 Thin; allowing gasses to diffuse across them quickly
 Close to an efficient transport system to take gasses to and from the exchange
surface
 large surface area; therefore, a lot of gas can diffuse across at the same time
 Good supply of oxygen

Human respiratory system

Protecting the gas exchange system from pathogens and particles
The hairs in the nose trap dust particles; the turbinal bones are covered with a thin layer of
goblet cells which makes a liquid of water and mucus which moistens the air.

Ciliated cells are found in the nose and along the trachea and bronchi. They waft the mucus,
containing bacteria and dust, up to the back of the throat so that it doesn’t block up the
lungs.

Nose and mouth:

Air enters the body through the nose or mouth, the palate separates them so that you can
breathe through your nose while eating.
Breathing through your nose is better as it allows for the air to be warm, moist and filtered
before reaching the lungs.
Trachea:
From nose/mouth air passes into the trachea (windpipe)
The epiglottis is found at the top of the trachea which closes to stop food going to your lungs
when you swallow.
The larynx (voice box) is just below the epiglottis; this contains your vocal cords.
The trachea has rings of cartilage sound it which keeps it open.
Bronchi:
The trachea goes through the neck into the thorax where it divides into 2.
The 2 branches are called the bronchi (bronchus singular)
Each bronchus goes into a lung and then branches out into smaller tubes called bronchioles.
alveoli
at the end of each bronchiole there are alveoli where gas exchange takes place.
The lungs
The walls of the alveoli are the gas exchange surface. Tiny capillaries are closely wrapped
around the outside of the alveoli.
Oxygen diffuses across the walls of the alveoli into the blood while carbon dioxide diffuses
the other way.
To help this process the walls of the alveoli
- Are very thin; only one cell thick
- Have an excellent transport system; blood is constantly pumped long the pulmonary artery.
- Have large surface area
- Good supply of oxygen
Breathing
The movement of air in and out of the lungs.
The intercoastal muscles between the ribs help you breathe as well as muscles in the
diaphragm.

Breathing in
The muscles of the diaphragm contact pulling the thorax downwards
The external intercoastal muscles contract pulling the ribcage upwards and outwards
*These movements increase the volume in the thorax.
As the volume in the thorax increases the pressure inside it falls below atmospheric
pressure and extra space has been made therefore air rushes in through the trachea and
bronchi into the lungs to fill it up.
Breathing out
The muscles in the diaphragm relax and the diaphragm springs back into its domed shape
because it’s made of elastic tissue
The external intercostal muscles also relax
*These movements decrease the volume in the thorax

Exercise and breathing

During exercise your muscles are using a lot of energy and a lot of oxygen is needed. You
breathe deeper and your heart beats faster to get the oxygen to the muscles as quickly as
possible.

Eventually there is a limit on the rate at which your heart and lungs can supply oxygen to
your muscles and energy is produces by anaerobic respiration.
Some glucose is broken down without combining it with oxygen.

Glucose  lactic acid + energy

Once you exercise stops there will still be quite a lot of lactic acid in muscles and blood, this
must be broken down by combining with oxygen in the liver.
Therefore, even though extra energy isn’t needed, deep breathing and fast heart rate
continues, taking and transporting extra oxygen to break down lactic acid.

While doing exercise oxygen debt was built up and as the lactic acid is combing with oxygen
it is being ‘paid off’
Not until all the lactic acid has been used up does breathing and heart rate return to normal.

The brain controls breathing rate. The brain constantly monitors the pH of blood flowing
through it. A lot of carbon dioxide or lactic acid causes pH to fall. When this happens, the
brain sends nerve impulses to the diaphragm and intercostal muscles simulating them to
contract harder and more often resulting in deeper and faster breaths.

Test for carbon dioxide:

Lime water turns milky in the presence of carbon dioxide

To investigate the differences in composition between inspired and expired air, we

use limewater because it changes colour when the gas is bubbled through, from
colourless to milky.

There is more CO2 present in expired air ---> it makes limewater change colour
more quickly (than inspired air).

Inspired air contains more Oxygen, less carbon dioxide, and less water vapor then
expired air.