Question

How are respiration and burning similar?

Answer 1

As we know respiration is the movement of oxygen from the outside environment to the cells that are within the tissues, and the removal of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. While combustion is the burning of carbon compounds like fossil fuels, it is often compared to cellular respiration because the two processes are similar.

Complete answer:
Both the processes respiration and burning are similar in many ways, such as
- Respiration as well as burning produces energy.
- Both Respiration and Burning uses up oxygen for the process.
- The chemical reactions of both respiration and burning are the same.
- Respiration and burning expels out carbon dioxide as the end product.
- Respiration and also burning produces water as the end product.

The chemical equation for respiration and burning is as follows;
${{\mathbf{C}}_6}{{\mathbf{H}}_{12}}{{\mathbf{O}}_6}{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}{\mathbf{6}}{{\mathbf{O}}_2}{\text{ }} \to {\text{ }}{\mathbf{6C}}{{\mathbf{O}}_2}{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}{\mathbf{6}}{{\mathbf{H}}_2}{\mathbf{O}}{\text{ }} + {\text{ }}{\mathbf{Energy}}$

- Respiration is a controlled biological cellular process and less than half of the energy is released in a stepwise manner with different biochemical reactions as heat.
- Combustion does not occur inside the living cell and it is an uncontrolled process. Energy is released in a single step and as heat. It can get hot enough in order to produce incandescent light.
- An example of respiration is aerobic respiratio and burning is the combustion of oxygen and hydrogen into water vapour.

Thus we can conclude that respiration and burning are similar.

Note: It is the process of breakdown of the respiratory substrate in order to release the energy which is constituted in the form of ATP. Note that respiration is a biological process while burning is a chemical process. Enzymes are involved in respiration while it is not in burning. respiration is a slow process compared to burning which is a quick process.