Unit 2.2 - Adaptations for Gas exchange Flashcards
(362 cards)
What are gases always exchanged by?
Diffusion
What do organisms exchange gas with?
The environment
What are some gases that organisms exchange with the environment?
O2 and CO2
When is O2 involved in gas exchange?
For aerobic respiration
Produced by plants
When is CO2 involved in gas exchange?
Waste product of aerobic respiration
Used by plants that photosynthesise
Give an example of a single celled organism
Amoeba
Is gas exchange across the cell surface membrane sufficient for amoeba? Why?
Yes, as it has a large surface area to volume ratio
Which method of gas exchange is the only one required for amoeba?
Gas exchange across the cell surface membrane
What type of organisms cannot rely on diffusion alone?
Larger, multicellular organisms
What can larger, multicellular organisms not rely on alone?
Diffusion
Why can larger, multicellular organs not rely on diffusion alone for gas exchange?
Smaller surface area to volume ratio
What must larger, multicellular organisms have for gas exchange as they cannot rely on diffusion alone?
A ventilation mechanism
(Sometimes) a circulatory system with specialised blood pigments
What do specialised blood pigments do?
Ensure that respiratory gases are exchanged with the body tissue rapidly
Draw and label an amoeba
(See notes)
Where does aerobic respiration occur in an amoeba?
Inside the cell
Describe how respiration occurs in an amoeba
Oxygen concentration is low inside so it moves from an area of high to low concentration down a concentration gradient
Also, it’s non-polar, so it easily passes through the membrane
What is oxygen that allows it to easily pass through a membrane?
Non-polar
Fick’s law
Rate of diffusion = surface area x difference in concentration
————————————————————
Length of diffusion pathway
Diffusion pathway
Distance from cell centre to the middle of the cell wall
What has to increase in Fick’s Law equation for the rate of diffusion to increase?
Surface area or difference in concentration
What had to increase under Fick’s Law for the rate of diffusion to decrease?
Length of diffusion pathway
If an organism is larger in size, what happens to its surface area to volume ratio?
It decreases
What type of organism has a smaller surface area to volume ratio?
Larger organism
Why does an increased size in an organism mean that the surface area to volume ratio decreases and what does this mean for the time taken for gas to diffuse into the organism?
As the organism gets bigger, the surface area increases, but the volume increases more
It’s the surface area that gases diffuse through after all
And…
The length of the diffusion pathway is larger
So, it takes longer for gas to diffuse into the organism