Respiration notes :)

Respiration

1.       Describe the process of respiration in your own words

All living things must respire to get the energy to stay alive. If they do not do this, they will die. Respiration involves breaking down food, often in the form of glucose, to release energy which is used in living processes. It is the process in which organisms break down carbohydrates for energy. Every organism on earth needs some way to access stored energy which will be used for:

Movement

Reproduction

Sensitivity

Growth

Respiration

Excretion

Nutrition

To complete respiration, this usually takes place:

Oxygen + glucoseà carbon dioxide + water + energy

C6H12O6 + 6O2 à 6 H2O + 6 CO2

 2.

 

Photosynthesis

Aerobic respiration

Function (why?)

How energy enters an ecosystem into an organism to build carbohydrates which can be turned into energy

How animals/ organisms takes energy into the body to complete the life processes of MRS GREN

Reactants (inputs?)

Water, carbon dioxide, sunlight, water

Oxygen, glucose

Productions (outputs)

Oxygen, glucose, energy

Carbon dioxide, water, energy

Equation

6 H2O + 6 CO2 à C6H12O6 + 6O2 + energy

 

C6H12O6 + 6O2 à 6 H2O + 6 CO2 + energy

 

 

Explain how the first and second laws of thermodynamics relate to food chains and trophic levels.

According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy is neither created nor destroyed. Energy is constant and forms of energy can change. For example, energy enters the system as light energy; during photosynthesis is converted to stored chemical energy (glucose).  In the stored chemical energy that is passed along as food. No new energy is created; it is just passed long the food chain and transformed from one form to another (light to chemical).

The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time. Energy conversions are never 100% efficient! When energy is transformed into work, some energy is always loss as waste heat. Entropy refers to the spreading out or dispersal of energy. As energy is dispersed to the environment, there will always be a reduction in the amount of energy passed on the next trophic level.

Energy = work + heat (and other wasted energy)