RESPIRATION

BIOLOGY 25 LECTURE
A. Santiago
Lecture Content:
Respiration
• Basic Concepts & Types
• Properties of Gases in Air
– Partial Pressures (Dalton’s Law)
– Atmospheric Pressure
– Alveolar Gas Pressure
• Property of Gases in Liquid (Henry’
• Lung Ventilation & Respiration
• Lung Volumes & Anatomic Dead Sp
• Control of Lung Ventilation
 Respiration
• Exchange of gases (O2 & CO2)
• Types
1. External = between environment &
gills/lungs
2. Internal = between blood & tissues
• Goal of the respiratory system
– Acquire O2 and expel CO2
– Accessory functions: defense &
language
 Partial Pressure of Gases
• Dalton’s Law
in a mixture of gases, the pressure
exerted by each gas is independent
of the pressure exerted by the
others
 Partial Pressure of Gases
• Simply because gas molecules are
far apart
• So….the total pressure of the entire
gas mixture (say, air) is the sum of
all the pressures of each gas
molecule
• That’s why we call the pressure of a
specific gas in air as partial
pressure (denoted as Pwhatevergas)
• It is influenced by temperature &
 Atmospheric Pressure
• partial pressures of all gases in the
air
• 760 mmHg at sea level
• varies depending where you are in
the world
• since air is 79% nitrogen & 21%
oxygen, to determine PO2 at sea
level….
0.21 X 760 mmHg = 160 mmHg
• now determine PNitrogen at sea level
 Alveolar Gas Pressure
• Normal alveolar PO2 = 105 mmHg;
PCO2 = 40 mmHg
• Why do we not consider the
abundant nitrogen? It’s biologically
inert under normal conditions &
does not undergo exchange in the
alveoli
• Consider the atmospheric PO2 & PCO2
at sea level…specifically PCO2 = 0.3
mmHg then CO2 net movement is
 Property of Gases in Liquid
• Henry’s Law
the amount of gas dissolved will be
directly proportional to the partial
pressure of the gas with which the
liquid is in equilibrium
• Example, if the PO2 in air is high
then the amount of O2 molecules
that enter & dissolve in water/ liquid
is also high  there is net
movement of O2 into the water
 Property of Gases in Liquid

• If the PO2 in air = PO2 in water, then

there is no net movement of O2
• Of course, this can also be applied
to PCO2
• For gill respiration, gas exchange is
simply based on diffusion gradients
 Lung Ventilation &
Respiration
• Amphibians (simple lungs):
Pulse pump – Diffusion
• Avians (parabronchial lungs):
Two cycle Crosscurrent
(Unidirectional) – Alveolar Gas
Exchange
• Reptiles & Mammals (alveolar lungs):
Aspiration pump – Alveolar Gas
Exchange
Amphibians

Stored fresh air in buccopharyngeal space

Does not mix with expired air from previous
Step.
 Avians
1 - On first inhalation, air flows through the
trachea & bronchi & primarily into the
posterior (rear) air sacs

2 - On exhalation, air moves from the

posterior air sacs & into the lungs

3 - With the second inhalation, air moves from

the lungs & into the anterior (front) air sacs

4 - With the second exhalation, air moves from

 Non-Avian Amniotes
• Pressures that influence air flow
inside lungs
• Alveolar pressure (Palv) = inside the
lungs
• Atmospheric pressure (Patm) =
environment
• Transpulmonary pressure = Palv – Pip
(pressure inside the pleural cavity)
• The difference between Palv and
Patm is achieved through the
•Patm = 760 mmHg at sea level
Palv = 760 mmHg in between breaths
•Only Palv varies based on expansion
and compression of the thoracic
cavity

•The pressure inside the

pleural cavity is always
subatmospheric (4
mmHg below Patm)
•This prevents the lungs
from collapsing
•Transpulmonary
pressure is always 4
mmHg above the Patm

So to make things short…
ventilation/ air flow in the
lungs is based on
Boyle’s Law states
that at constant
temperature,
increasing the volume
of the container
decreases the
pressure exerted by
the gas

A Volume
Lung
I
R

F That’s why lung volume must

k flow is influenced by lung volume vary through respiratory
L muscles to modify Palv.
O
Lung Volumes
Anatomic Dead Space
 Control of Lung Ventilation
• Stimulus: CO2 content in CSF
(actually H+ ions)
• Sensor: Central chemoreceptors
bathed in CSF at the medulla
oblongata (detect pH levels of blood)
CO2 + H2O ↔ H2CO3 ↔ H+ + HCO3-
• Response: Breathing rate (increases
as pH ↓)
 Control of Lung Ventilation
• Stimulus: O2 content in arterial blood
• Sensor: Peripheral chemoreceptors
known as carotid and aortic bodies
• Response: Breathing rate (increases
as PO2 ↓)