Cell Respiration and Metabolic Rate
145
Mouse in a sealed jar
with enough air
but no food.
Experimental Results:
Mouse loses weight.
Mouse produces water.
Air gets heavier.
The chemists soon learned that:
Mouse Tissue can be represented by the formula for sugar -
C6H12O6
Light Air is oxygen - Oz.
Water is H2O.
Heavy Air is carbon dioxide - CO2.
•
•
The general equation for the metabolic process became:
Mouse Tissue + Light Air
Water
+
Heavy Air
? Question
1. Write the molecular formulas below the words in the general
equation (above) for metabolism.
2. When radioactive isotopes of oxygen atoms are put into O2
molecules and the mouse is allowed to metabolize in a chamber
with that “labeled" oxygen, only the H2O produced by the mouse is
radioactive. Based on that evidence, draw dotted lines to show
where each atom on the left side of the equation goes to on the right
side of the equation.
3. Where does the CO2 that you breathe out specifically come from
during metabolism? Draw dotted lines to show this.
4. Where does the O2 that you breathe in specifically go to during
metabolism? Draw dotted line to show this.