Difference between breathing and cell respiration
Answers
Answer:
In summary, breathing is the process of inhaling and exhaling through our lungs. It brings oxygen into the body and expels unwanted carbon dioxide. The oxygen gets into the blood through the alveoli and is taken to the cells. ... Cellular respiration is a microscopic process, taking place in the cells.
Answer:
Breathing is the process of inhaling and exhaling through our lungs. When we breathe in air from the atmosphere, we are inhaling a mixture of mostly nitrogen, some oxygen and a few trace gases. However, it's the oxygen our bodies are looking for.
Oxygen enters the lungs through our nose and mouth and moves through the trachea, or windpipe, to the lungs. Air then moves deeper and deeper into the lungs through a branching network of tubes called the bronchi. At the end of these tubes are tiny sacs called alveoli. This is where oxygen gets into our body. Think of the inside of the lungs like a tree. The trachea is the trunk and the bronchi are the large branches. These branches get smaller and smaller until they end with single leaves, which are analogous to the alveoli.
In the alveoli of our lungs, oxygen moves into our blood and carbon dioxide, the gas we breath out, goes into the alveoli from the blood. Our lungs fill with carbon dioxide and we exhale, releasing a gas that would be otherwise toxic to our body.
Cellular respiration is the key to answering the questions above. Our bodies use cellular respiration to make energy from oxygen. Carbon dioxide is a waste product of cellular respiration and is not needed by the body. Let's look at how this happens, starting at the alveoli.
When the oxygen gets to the alveoli, it moves into the blood. The blood flows back to the heart from the lungs, and is then pumped all over the body to individual cells. The cells take in the oxygen and give the blood the waste carbon dioxide.
Once the oxygen is inside the cells, they start the process of cellular respiration. Cells use oxygen and a sugar, called glucose, that we get from food to make energy for the cell and carbon dioxide. The energy is stored as a chemical called ATP, or adenosine triphosphate). Think of ATP like the money of the cell. Cells use it as a currency to do all kinds of things, from making your heart pump blood to making your brain think. ATP is essential for proper functioning in the body.