All topics › AQA GCSE Biology › Aerobic and anaerobic respiration4.2.1 Aerobic and anaerobic respirationAQA GCSE Biology (8461), Higher tier · Bioenergetics › Respiration
Practise Aerobic and anaerobic respiration. 14 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
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Complete the word equation for aerobic respiration. glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water
Complete the word equation for anaerobic respiration in muscles. lactic acid
Complete the word equation for anaerobic respiration in yeast. glucose → ethanol + carbon dioxide
Give the chemical formulae of the two products of aerobic respiration. CO2 and H2 O Sample questions Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1 Easy 5 marks
Respiration takes place continuously in all living cells.
(a) Complete the word equation for aerobic respiration.[2]
(b) In which part of a cell does most aerobic respiration take place?one box.[1]
Chloroplast Mitochondrion Nucleus Ribosome (c) Respiration is an exothermic reaction.[1]
(d) What name is given to respiration that takes place without oxygen?[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme (a) Answer: glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water
(b) Answer: Mitochondrion
(c) energy is transferred to the surroundings (d) Answer: Anaerobic respiration
Question 2 Medium 6 marks
Human muscle cells can respire aerobically and anaerobically.
(a) Give two differences between aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration in muscle cells.[2]
(b) Explain why anaerobic respiration transfers much less energy than aerobic respiration.[2]
(c) During a 100 m sprint, a lot of the respiration in the sprinter's leg muscles is anaerobic.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme (a) aerobic respiration uses oxygen; anaerobic respiration does not aerobic respiration produces carbon dioxide and water; anaerobic respiration produces lactic acid aerobic respiration transfers much more energy (from each glucose molecule) (b) oxygen is not used, so the oxidation of glucose is incomplete (so) lactic acid still contains a lot of (chemical) energy (c) the muscles need a lot of energy very quickly oxygen cannot be supplied to the muscles quickly enough for aerobic respiration alone Question 3 Hard 8 marks
Cells can transfer energy by aerobic respiration or by anaerobic respiration.
(a) Give the chemical formulae of the two products of aerobic respiration.[2]
(b) Compare aerobic respiration in human cells with anaerobic respiration in human muscle cells and in yeast cells.[6]
Show the answer and mark scheme (b) aerobic respiration needs oxygen; anaerobic respiration does not aerobic: glucose + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water anaerobic in muscles: glucose → lactic acid anaerobic in yeast: glucose → ethanol + carbon dioxide (fermentation) only aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration in yeast produce carbon dioxide aerobic respiration transfers much more energy per glucose molecule because in anaerobic respiration the oxidation of glucose is incomplete aerobic respiration takes place mainly in mitochondria all are exothermic / transfer energy for living processes lactic acid builds up and causes an oxygen debt; ethanol and carbon dioxide from yeast are used in making drinks and bread Marked with levels of response: the full level descriptors are in the app.
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