Respiration and Circulatory Lab

Respiration and Circulatory Lab


Introduction
Cellular respiration is a chemical reaction that involves the breakdown of glucose to provide ATP energy for the cell (Rogers, 2010, October 12). This process occurs in mitochondria between blood and the air in alveoli. The waste products of cellular respiration are carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is released from the cells during exhalation. In order to determine the effects of exercise on the rate of cellular respiration, breathing rate, heart rate, and carbon dioxide production will be measured at rest and after 1 and two minutes of exercise. Breathing rate is measured in breaths per minute, heart rate in beats per minute, and an acid-base indicator bromothymol blue will be used to indicate the presence of carbon dioxide. Bromothymol blue solution changes color from blue to yellow when carbon dioxide bubbled into it. The more carbon dioxide you exhale into the bromothymol blue solution, the faster it will change color to yellow.

Hypothesis
      If people do exercise then the body will produce more carbon dioxide, due to the harder muscles work the more ATP they need. The body cells will break down more glucose by using more oxygen, and produce more carbon dioxide. Moreover, the breathing rate and heart rate also will increase after I exercise.

Materials
  * 2 Small Beakers
  * 2 Test tubes
  * cup
  * Bromthymol blue solution
  * Straw
  * Stop watch

Procedure
PART A: Resting (no exercise)
  1. Measuring 20 mL water and pour it into a beaker.
  2. Adding 8 drops of bromthymol blue into the beaker by using a dropper and mix them with the water to make a bromthymol blue solution.
  3. Using a straw gently blow into the bromthymol blue solution until the color change from blue to yellow.
  4. Observing how long the bromthymol blue solution from blue become to yellow, and let your partner record the time in Table 1.
  5. Repeating steps1-4 two more times....