Biology · Respiration. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Respiration is the set of chemical reactions in all living cells that release energy from glucose. It is not breathing. Breathing only moves air in and out of the lungs; respiration happens inside every cell, in plants as well as animals, all day and all night.
The energy released is used for everything a cell does. Some is always given out as heat, which mammals and birds use to keep their body temperature constant.
The reactions are controlled by enzymes, so temperature changes the rate. In yeast, the rate rises as it gets warmer, reaches a maximum at the optimum temperature, then falls quickly as the enzymes are denatured.
Students mix up respiration and breathing, or say plants respire only at night. Respiration goes on in every living cell all the time.
Answer: 70 °C (none), then 10 °C (slow), then 35 °C (fastest).
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