RESPIRATORY SYTEMS

OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lesson I should be able to
 State the percentage composition of air
 Identify respiratory gases
 Describe the test for carbon dioxide gas
 Test for oxygen

The composition of air

-Air is composed of a mixture of different gases.
-The most common gases are nitrogen, oxygen and argon.
-Other gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapour, are also present in the atmosphere but
in very small amounts.
-The pie graph shows the composition of air.
Respiratory gases
-Oxygen and carbon dioxide are the respiratory gases.
-The air we breathe in, or inhale has a high oxygen content and a low carbon dioxide content.
- The air we breathe out, or exhale, has a high carbon dioxide content and low oxygen
content.
Oxygen in air
-It is possible to test for the presence of oxygen in air.
-To test for the presence of oxygen, a glowing splint is used.
- A splint is a thin, wooden stick.
-When a material burns it uses oxygen and produces carbon dioxide.
-Burning is also called combustion.
Activity 1.
Aim : To test for oxygen
Materials : Wooden splint, matches, gas jar with a lid containing oxygen.
Procedure :
1. Keep the gas jar containing the oxygen tightly closed with a cover.
2. Light a wooden splint and blow out the flame.
3. While the splint is still glowing, put it into the gas jar containing oxygen.
4. Describe what you observed.
Results
Leave about 3 lines blank

Conclusion

Leave about 3 lines blank

Carbon dioxide in air

-It is possible to test for the presence of carbon dioxide in air.

-Lime water can be used to show that carbon dioxide is present in a sample of gas.
-Lime water is a clear colourless liquid.

Activity 2.
Aim : To test for the presence of carbon dioxide.
Materials : Lime water or bicarbonate indicator, small beaker or test tube, drinking
straw.
Procedure
1. Pour 10ml of lime water or bicarbonate indicator into a test tube or small beaker.
2. Put the straw into the test tube or small beaker .
3. Gently blow air from your lungs through the lime water or bicarbonate indicator.

Results

Leave 3 lines blank

Conclusion

Leave 3 lines blank.

Activity 3.
Aim: To determine the percentage of oxygen in air.
Materials : a shallow trough, matches, a test tube, sticky putty, a small candle,
water, a measuring cylinder, a marking pen.
Procedure
1. Fill the test tube with water to the top. Pour the water into the measuring
cylinder and record the volume of the test tube in millilitres.
2. Stick the candle in the middle of a shallow trough using sticky putty.
3. Carefully pour some water into the trough.
 4. Light the candle and place the test tube upside down over the candle so that it
rests on the bottom of the trough.
5. The candle flame will go out as soon as the oxygen in the test tube is used up.
The water should rise up the test tube. When the flame on the candles goes
out, measure the height of the water in the test tube using a marking pen.
6. Remove the test tube from the trough and fill it with water up to the mark that
you made. Measure the volume of water in the test tube.
7. Record the volumes in a table similar to the one below.

Volume of water in the test tube at

start of experiment (ml)
Volume of water after the candle
flame goes out (ml)

Observation and results

Calculate the percentage of oxygen that was used up by the burning candle. Use
the following formula.

Volume of water start = a

Volume of water after flame goes out = b
a – b /a * 100 = percentage of oxygen in air
NOTE The result is the percentage of oxygen in the air.
Questions
1. Name the gas that was used up by the burning candle.
2. What happened to the water in the trough when the candle was burning?
3. The result of the calculation is the percentage of oxygen in air.
(a) What is the percentage of oxygen in air?
(b) Is the percentage the same as the percentage of oxygen in air?
(c) Discuss and then suggest any reason why the percentage might not be the same.

RESPIRATION
What is respiration?
-All living things need energy to survive. Without energy, there is no life.
-We need energy for many different things. Energy is used to keep the body warm, to move,
to think, to grow, to reproduce and to do all activities.
-Living things get the energy they need from the food they eat.
-Cars burn a fuel like petrol to get energy to move . Our fuel is glucose in the food we eat.
-Oxygen is needed to break down the glucose to release energy. This process is called
respiration.
-We can write the process of respiration as a chemical equation

Glucose + oxygen ---------------- Carbon dioxide + water +

energy.

-Respiration is a process in which oxygen is used to break down glucose to produce carbon
dioxide, water and energy.
-Respiration is a process that takes place in all the cells of plants and animals all the time.