Essay --

Aim: To measure the amount of oxygen takes in by the maggots and peas with the help of a respirometer in the experiment. Introduction: Respiration is the process by which organic molecules are broken down in a series of stages to synthesize ATP. Respiratory quotient is a measure of the ratio between oxygen an organism takes in and carbon dioxide the organism eliminates. The use of a device called a respirometer is used to measure an organism’s respiratory quotient by measuring the gases the organism takes in and exhales. Metabolism is all the chemical processes that take place in living organisms for example breathing, circulating blood and controlling body temperature. Since the peas and maggots used in this experiment are living things, they could affect the result since they both expire aerobically and take part in metabolism. With respiration of carbohydrates, the food is then converted to carbohydrates usually hexose sugar before being respired. There is an oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide and water with the release of energy. Oxygen + glucose → Carbon dioxide + water + energy (in the form of ATP) When there is no use of oxygen it is anaerobic respiration and with usage of oxygen, this is aerobic respiration. In the presence of oxygen there are 4 stages namely glycolysis in the cytoplasm, link reaction and Krebs cycle in the matrix of the mitochondria and electron transport chain in the mitochondrial membranes. ATP is generated when H is lost and used to reduce coenzymes. The reduced Hydrogen carrier can be used to generate ATP by oxidative phosphorylation In the absence of oxygen the Krebs cycle and electron transport system cannot operate and only glycolysis takes place, which yields a two molecules for each g... ... in the sucrose solution contains carbohydrates. Food source would affect respiration, as each food source has a different energy values and respire in a different way. Appendices: This is calculated starting with obtaining the amount of carbon dioxide released by subtracting value b from value a. The respiratory quotient is then found by dividing the volume of carbon dioxide released over the volume of oxygen consumed Peas Maggots Mass (g) 5.60-3.93=1.67 5.06-4.00=1.06 Value (a) with KOH 3.50-2.00=1.50 4.25-2.50=1.75 Value (b) without KOH 3.75-3.75=0.00 3.50-3.00=0.50 Respiratory Quotient per unit 1.00 0.71 1) Volume of CO2 removed by peas is a-b (1.50-0)=1.50 RQ = (volume of carbon dioxide released)/(volume of oxygen consumed) RQ is 1.50/1.50=1 2) Volume of CO2 released by maggots is 1.75-0.50=1.25 With the RQ value is 1.25/1.75=0.71