Comparing Cellular Respiration & Fermentation

September 28, 2008 at 7:21 pm #10173

Participant

Hello everyone:

I hope that two further questions will not be troublesome. The first question is based on an online quiz (http://upper.usm.k12.wi.us/academics/fa … quiz04.htm) which I took to familarise myself with cellular respiration (as I have a test on Tuesday) and did not understand one of the choices. Could someone please justify choice c)?

The second question is just about something I had in mind.

Thank you!

—

1. Which statement mainly explains why even well-conditioned athletes have to pace themselves for athletic events that last several hours?

a. Lactic acid fermentation can cause muscle soreness.
b. Heavy breathing is needed to get rid of lactic acid.
c. Cellular respiration releases energy more slowly than fermentation does.
d. all of the above

I chose d) as the answer, which was correct, but I do not fully understand choice c). Would cellular respiration release energy more slowly than does fermentation because there are three stages of cellular respiration, whereas there is only one "cycle" in lactic acid fermentation?

2. I am just wondering: is it possible for aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration to occur simultaneously? In other words, would there be any cases in which the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation are operating at its max and as a result, the body diverts the remaining oxygen to fermentation?

September 28, 2008 at 7:23 pm #86150

mith

Participant

Choice c is wrong.

September 28, 2008 at 7:27 pm #86151

vertciel

Participant

Thanks for your response, mith. I actually chose d) since I understood a) and b) to be correct, but I did not fully understand c).

September 28, 2008 at 10:22 pm #86153

mith

Participant

well if c is wrong, then it can’t be d, so it can be both a and b lol.

It is true that you need oxygen to eventually oxidize the lactic acid, but that doesn’t mean you have to breathe heavily. Breathing heavily reflects a rate of oxygen consumption, getting rid of lactic acid is a "amount" question–i.e. you need a certain amount of oxygen to rid of a certain amount of lactic.

Cellular respiration is a term that includes both aerobic and anaerobic respiration(fermentation), so certainly that’s wrong. It would be like saying "colors are brighter than red".

September 29, 2008 at 4:38 pm #86166

vertciel

Participant

Thanks for your reply, mith!

October 2, 2008 at 2:49 am #86219

MrMistery

Participant

Despite the classic view that lactic acid causes muscle soreness, some evidence has surfaced recently that it might be leaky ryanodine calcium channels. Sure, it’s still hard to tell for sure right now, but fun to debate though….

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