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It seems normal now but i gave it a little thought and it sounds weird. Mushrooms do the same thing, thats more weird because green plants breath in carbon dioxide and breath out oxygen... confusing. Oh and not sure what catergory I should've put it under, so don't correct me please.

2007-07-17 15:29:00 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Biology

8 answers

People and fungi both need oxygen to finish up cellular respiration - that's what our cells do to give up energy when we break down our food molecules. Without oxygen, the last part of the process won't work and we won't get the energy we need.

People and fungi both produce carbon dioxide in the same process of cellular respiration. We start with molecules like glucose and pick them apart, throwing away the carbon dioxide and keeping the hydrogens.

In fact, all living things do this process.
Plants, algae, and some bacteria happen to produce more oxygen than they use, so we see them as "giving off oxygen". They also use more carbon dioxide than they produce. But they are still doing cellular respiration to give their cells energy, just like we are.

And this is definitely the right category for your question. Thanks for wondering why! You're thinking like a scientist.

2007-07-17 15:34:18 · answer #1 · answered by ecolink 7 · 2 0

Yeah, good category.

Respiration is the process which exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen- and plants do it too (they just give off more oxygen from photosynthesis than they do CO2 from respiration, or life as we know it wouldn't have gotten off'f the ground).

As to "why,"- the short answer is so that you don't suffocate.

The long answer is that we evolved as heterotrophs and that is what happens. We breath in O2 which is used in the chemical reactions we use to turn sugar into energy- a byproduct is CO2. We get rid of the byproducts (CO2) by breathing out.

2007-07-17 15:37:31 · answer #2 · answered by BotanyDave 5 · 0 0

The oxygen doesn't turn into carbon dioxide by itself; it enters your body and interacts with glucose (sugars we need for energy).

The one-molecule glucose breaks down several times and interacts with molecules of oxygen. Together, the carbon in glucose and the oxygen form molecules of carbon dioxide(CO2). Hydrogen and more oxygen (the other two atoms that make up glucose) come together to form water molecules.

Also, while the bonds in glucose are breaking down, energy is released. This is how glucose gives us energy.

So in the end of this process (called cellular respiration),we're left with water, carbon dioxide, and energy. We use the energy because we need it. Plants take in the carbon dioxide and water. They photosynthesize and form glucose and oxygen. They're opposite of us.

If you want more details, just search for cellular respiration. Hope this helps!

2007-07-17 15:52:17 · answer #3 · answered by Yuki 2 · 0 0

We breath in Oxygen becuase our body needs it to oxidate glucose ( a sugar), our source of energy. One of the products of the glucose oxidation is carbon dioxide wich needs to come out of our body to repeat the cycle. On the other hand, green plants need carbon dioxide to produce glucose. And one of the products is oxygen wich needs to come out of the plant to repeat the cycle. Never the less when a plant need energy it also uses oxygen to oxidate a sugar to. Mushroom is not a plant it belongs in the fungi kindom. It does not behave like a plant

2007-07-17 15:36:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

We need oxygen in order to survive and carry out our daily life routines. Carbon Dioxide is the waste product produced by your respiratory system after basically using up oxygen. Think of it this way you have a bottle of water, water is oxygen and once your done with the water the plastic becomes the waste which is carbon dioxide.

2007-07-17 15:34:41 · answer #5 · answered by Yue C 2 · 0 2

Because it makes a perfect cycle. The carbon dioxide we exhale keeps the plants alive so they can exhale oxygen, which keeps us alive so we can exhale more carbon dioxide.

2016-05-21 14:13:40 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0 0

The whole process of breathing is strictly for waste removal. We breath in oxygen so that our bodies can add Hydrogen and Carbon to it to get it out of our bodies. You breathe out the CO2 and H2O as waste. It's part of a process called Krebs Cycle.

2007-07-17 15:34:26 · answer #7 · answered by david c 3 · 1 1

BECAUSE of krebs cycle..i think

2007-07-17 15:35:30 · answer #8 · answered by _shes royalty. 1 · 0 0

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