You are hiking in the mountains on a warm summer day. As you are walking up a st

Question

You are hiking in the mountains on a warm summer day. As you are walking up a steep incline, your leg muscles are working pretty hard. They need to produce a lot more ATP than usual in order to propel you upward. Your breathing becomes deeper and more rapid as you work to bring in more air. You also notice that you are getting warm and starting to sweat. You have water with you and decide to stop for a water and snack break. Your snack consists of a power bar that contains a good mix of carbs, proteins, and lipids - just what your body needs! As you sit and replenish your nutrients and water, you marvel at the beauty of your surrounds and feel a sense of appreciation that your body is healthy and able to adjust its activities to meet your ongoing needs. Answer the following questions based on this scenario:

1. Oxygen is needed for ATP production by your muscles and carbon dioxide is produced as a byproduct. Explain how the respiratory system works to move air into and out of the body, so that oxygen can be delivered to your muscles and carbon dioxide can be removed from the body.

a. Describe a regulatory mechanism that would explain why your breathing became deeper and more rapid while you were hiking.

b. How and why would your blood pH be affected if your respiratory system couldn't adjust the amount of air flow to accommodate the increased ATP production by your muscles?

Explanation / Answer

1. The respiratory process involves inhalation of air, exchange of gases and exhalation of carbon dioxide. Once air is inhaled it travels through the trachea and bronchi into the left and right lungs where the air is temporarily stored in air sacs called alveoli. These alveoli have a thin membrane which facilitates the exchange of gases. Carbon dioxide which is a by product of respiration, is transferred from muscles to the alveoli through blood. The exchange of gases happens in alveoli where oxygen diffuses into blood and carbon dioxide goes into alveoli and is finally exhaled.

a) when muscles perform a function, the energy for it is derived from aerobic respiration which involves glucose and oxygen reacting to give CO2 , water and ATP. This ATP provides energy to the muscle cells. When a person is hiking, he works his muscles more for which more ATP is needed. This needs more oxygen which is achieved by increased breathing rate.

b) increased ATP indicates more O2 in blood. This makes the blood alkaline. The decrease in CO2 levels in blood causes reduction in acidity of the blood.

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