Cellular Respiration and Human Biology: 25 Key Questions

Posted on Dec 17, 2024 in Biology

Cellular Respiration and Human Biology

Questions:

  1. Search in the dictionary for the term “synthesis.”
  2. What substance is oxidized in the cell during cellular respiration?
  3. What is the purpose of cellular respiration?
  4. The term “energy consumed” is generally used to refer to energy being converted to mechanical energy or into heat. Which do you think is right?
  5. When does the body need more energy input, in winter or summer? Why?
  6. Provide an example to show that during digestion there is an increase in cellular activity.
  7. Use the formula proposed by the FAO to calculate your basal metabolism. The result should be in kilojoules.
  8. What does it mean for a diet to be monotonous?
  9. Find examples of deficiency diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies.
  10. In which areas on Earth are countries with higher rates of malnutrition concentrated? What about those who have the lowest rates?
  11. Search in the dictionary for the scientific meaning of “hair.”
  12. Name the ducts that constitute the airway in the order that air travels through when entering the nose.
  13. Why does blood that reaches the lungs carry a very high amount of carbon dioxide?
  14. If inspired air has carbon dioxide, why doesn’t this gas pass into the capillaries surrounding the alveoli?
  15. Which organs are represented in the respiratory system, and what causes the entry and exit of air in the lungs?
  16. Pulmonary ventilation is also called respiration. What is the difference between this and cellular respiration?
  17. Search in the dictionary for the scientific meaning of “blood plasma.”
  18. Why are the kidneys and lungs considered excretory organs?
  19. Why can’t the elimination of undigested food be considered a form of excretion?
  20. Why don’t blood plasma proteins appear in the urine? Why not glucose?
  21. In one day, about 180 liters of plasma are filtered into the nephrons. Why is only about 1.5 liters of urine removed per day?
  22. How does the elimination of large amounts of sweat during a summer’s day affect the amount of urine that is produced?
  23. Justify the following observation: If you measure the volume of a person’s plasma before and after ingesting 2 liters of water, it is found that, although the volume increases after ingestion, after 2 or 3 hours, the normal volume is recovered.
  24. How does the “artificial kidney” cleanse the blood of a sick person?
  25. Why is drinking plenty of water beneficial for the proper functioning of the kidneys?

Answers:

  1. Formation of a complex substance from simpler ones. For example, protein synthesis from amino acids.
  2. Glucose, as well as other organic compounds.
  3. To burn nutrients to obtain energy.
  4. The term “consumption” is not correct when applied to energy since energy is not consumed, it is transformed. In this case, the energy contained in organic substances (chemical energy) is transformed into heat.
  5. In winter, because it is colder.
  6. Energy is spent when you chew.
  7. (7.4 x 42 + 428 x 1.65 + 572 = 1589)
  8. It means to always eat the same thing.
  9. Beriberi, malaria, and rickets.
  10. Where it is highest: much of Africa and some European countries. Where it is lowest: much of Europe, America, and some African countries.
  11. A very small diameter blood vessel. Capillaries form dense networks within organs and connect arteries with veins.
  12. Air passes through the pharynx, the trachea, lungs, larynx, lung alveoli, bronchi, and bronchioles.
  13. Because it collects waste from the body’s cells, among which is CO2 from respiration.
  14. Gas exchange between alveoli and capillaries occurs by diffusion. Gases pass from where their concentration is higher to where it is lower, not vice versa. Capillaries that reach the alveoli have a higher CO2 concentration.
  15. Lungs, trachea, and bronchi. It is due to volume changes in the thoracic cavity.
  16. In cellular respiration, organic substances are burned with oxygen, releasing energy and transforming into CO2 and water. In pulmonary ventilation, oxygen is retained, and CO2 is expelled.
  17. The fluid part of blood along with the dissolved substances in it. It is the liquid that remains after excluding blood cells: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
  18. Because they expel waste substances.
  19. Because there has been no change, and no substance has been extracted. That is, they are remnants of unused food.
  20. Because of their large size, they do not filter into the capsule of the nephron. Glucose, although it does pass into the nephron, is reabsorbed back into the plasma by the tubule.
  21. Because 99% of the water returns to the interior.
  22. To maintain the body’s fluid balance, when a higher quantity of water is eliminated through sweat, the amount of urine will be less.
  23. The kidney indicates that it is carrying out its function as a regulator of the amount of water in the body. Drinking water passes through the intestinal wall into the blood. Upon passing through the kidneys, blood is filtered, and the volume and composition of the urine vary with the size and composition of plasma.
  24. An artificial kidney is a machine in which the patient’s blood comes into contact with a solution similar to blood plasma through a semipermeable membrane. This membrane lets out urea and other waste products from the blood but not proteins and blood cells. So, upon leaving the machine, the blood is free of waste.
  25. Because it helps dissolve and eliminate waste more easily.