Question

How does cellular respiration explain why animals breathe rapidly when they are running?

Answer 1

Energy is used up while running, and cellular respiration needs oxygen to produce more energy. Energy is used up while running, and cellular respiration needs carbon dioxide to produce more energy.

Answer 2

Cellular respiration is the process of respiration undertaken by cells of the body to convert the energy obtained from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is the energy currency of the cell.

• When an animal runs, it uses up energy at a faster pace than it normally would. Nearly every part of the body is engaged in the activity of running.
• This creates the need to produce more energy. The cells of the body need more oxygen as oxygen is necessary for the process of aerobic respiration and is used to oxidise the nutrients present in food in order to break them down and convert them into the easily usable ATP.
• Hence, in order to inhale more oxygen, the breathing rate of the animal increases and the breaths become quicker and/or deeper. The heart rate also increases to enable the heart to pump more blood, in order to tranport more of the oxygen to the cells.

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