RESPIRATION AND

CIRCULATION
C

Secondary 2, Biology, Chapter 3

What is Respiration?
• Respiration is the process in which living things releases energy
from nutrients
• Respiration is not the same as breathing
• Breathing refers to the gas exchange that happens in a living
thing
• Respiration is a cellular process which means it happens at the
cellular level
• It requires the help of Oxygen to properly release energy from
the nutrients
Why do we need to respire?
• Our body requires energy to stay alive
• The energy is not only needed to by our body to do activities, but
to also maintain the cells in our body so that they could function
properly
• The foods we eat stores energy in the form of carbohydrate
(sugar/starch)
• This means that we would need to break down the carbohydrate
so that we could get the energy stored within the food we eat
• A special organ within our body cells called the mitochondria is
responsible for the process of respiration in our body.
Mitochondria
The Mitochondria
• The mitochondria are special parts (organelles) within a cell that
performs respiration
• Mitochondria requires Oxygen to properly release energy from
carbohydrates
• Respiration is a chemical process, the chemical equation of
respiration is as follow:
𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑟 + 𝑂𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛 → 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 → 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟
• Some of the energy released by respiration from our body is in
the form of Thermal Energy (Heat)
Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration
• Normally, respiration is the process in which we use Oxygen to release energy from the
food we eat.
• However, there are times when our body requires energy but we don’t have enough
supply of Oxygen to release the energy (e.g. When we are running a marathon)
• Our body is also able to release energy without the help of Oxygen.
• When our body uses Oxygen to release energy, we called the process of respiration as
Aerobic Respiration
• When our body releases energy without Oxygen, we called the process of respiration
as Anaerobic Respiration
Anaerobic Respiration
• When our body does not have enough supply of Oxygen but needs more energy, it will
perform respiration without Oxygen which is known as Anaerobic Respiration
• Anaerobic Respiration happens in your muscle cells
• It is also a chemical process, therefore, it has a chemical equation.
• The general chemical equation of Anaerobic Respiration is as follow:

𝑆𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑟 → 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 → 𝐿𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝐴𝑐𝑖𝑑 + 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑒 + 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

• Lactic Acid is an acid produced as a byproduct of Anaerobic Respiration
• When enough Lactic Acid is build up in the muscle cells, it could cause them to stiffen which
is commonly known as muscle cramps
• Anaerobic Respiration also happens in other living things. For example, yeast performs
Anaerobic Respiration to get energy. As it does so, it ferments the food it ate. This usually
produces alcohol.