A person is running in a race. Outline the advantages to the person using aerobic respiration compared with the type of respiration that takes place when oxygen is not available
Answers
Explanation:
Aerobic respiration, which takes place in the presence of oxygen, evolved after oxygen was added to Earth’s atmosphere. This type of respiration is useful today because the atmosphere is now 21% oxygen. However, some anaerobic organisms that evolved before the atmosphere contained oxygen have survived to the present. Therefore, anaerobic respiration, which takes place without oxygen, must also have advantages.
Advantages of Aerobic Respiration
A major advantage of aerobic respiration is the amount of energy it releases. Without oxygen, organisms can split glucose into just two molecules of pyruvate. This releases only enough energy to make two ATP molecules. With oxygen, organisms can break down glucose all the way to carbon dioxide. This releases enough energy to produce up to 38 ATP molecules. Thus, aerobic respiration releases much more energy than anaerobic respiration.
The amount of energy produced by aerobic respiration may explain why aerobic organisms came to dominate life on Earth. It may also explain how organisms were able to become multicellular and increase in size.
Advantages of Anaerobic Respiration
One advantage of anaerobic respiration is obvious. It lets organisms live in places where there is little or no oxygen. Such places include deep water, soil, and the digestive tracts of animals such as humans
Answer: