Vernier Software & Technology

# Oxygen and Aerobic Metabolism

## Introduction

Oxygen plays a key role in aerobic cellular metabolism, facilitating the conversion of glucose, protein, and lipids into usable energy. For every 6 molecules of oxygen used in the breakdown of glucose, 6 molecules of carbon dioxide are produced, along with water and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), according to the following equation:

${{\text{C}}_{\text{6}}}{{\text{H}}_{{\text{12}}}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{6}}}{\text{ + 6 }}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}} \to {\text{6 C}}{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{ + 6 }}{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}}{\text{O + energy (heat or ATP)}}$

The average person uses 200–250 mL of O2 per minute at rest. This may increase to 2–3 L per minute during heavy exercise and to twice that amount in highly trained athletes. The increase of oxygen consumption is proportional to the amount of work performed up to a maximum level which is dependent on conditioning. At the start of exercise, anaerobic metabolism is used briefly, but this quickly changes to aerobic metabolism as blood flow to muscles increases.

## Objectives

In this experiment, you will

• Obtain graphical representation of tidal volume and change in O2 concentration with breathing at rest and after exercise.
• Calculate oxygen consumption at rest and after exercise.
• Correlate your findings with clinical situations.

## Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following Vernier sensors and equipment.

You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?

## Human Physiology with Vernier

See other experiments from the lab book.

 1 Warming Function of Nasal Passageways 2 Effect of Vascularity on Skin Temperature Recovery 3 Heart Rate as a Vital Sign 4 Heart Rate and Exercise 5 Heart Rate Response to Baroreceptor Feedback 6 Effect of Coughing on Heart Rate 7 Blood Pressure as a Vital Sign 8 Blood Pressure and Exercise 9 Diurnal Blood Pressure Variation 10 Heart Rate and Blood Pressure as Vital Signs 11 Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, and Exercise 12 Analyzing the Heart with EKG 13 Introduction to EMG 14A Neuromuscular Reflexes (with Accelerometer) 14B Neuromuscular Reflexes (without Accelerometer) 15 Muscle Function Analysis 16 Grip Strength Comparison 17 Grip Strength and Muscle Fatigue 18 EMG and Muscle Fatigue 19 Lung Volumes and Capacities 20 Respiratory Response to Physiologic Challenges 21 Analysis of Lung Function 22 Oxygen and Aerobic Metabolism 23 Oxygen Extraction by the Lungs 24 Effect of "Dead Space" on Oxygen Exchange

### Experiment 22 from Human Physiology with Vernier Lab Book

#### Included in the Lab Book

Vernier lab books include word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.