Question

On a backpacking trip, Kenny hikes all day at a steady pace, covering 30 kilometers and burning 4000 Calories. At the school track, Janelle runs the 100-meter sprint in 13.5 seconds, burning 10 Calories. Afterward, Janelle’s leg muscles are aching and she is breathing hard, while Kenny maintains normal breathing all day, even though he burns 400 times more calories than Janelle. Which two statements offer the BEST explanation for this phenomenon?
A. If the aerobic pathway—cellular respiration—cannot meet the energy demand, then the anaerobic pathway—lactic acid fermentation—starts up, resulting in lactic acid buildup and "oxygen debt."
B. Aerobic cellular respiration produces more energy, but its use is limited because of lactic acid buildup in the muscles and the resulting "oxygen debt."
C. After about 90 seconds of intense exercise, the muscles become depleted of oxygen, and anaerobic respiration can no longer function to produce ATP, resulting in "oxygen debt."
D. The rate of energy demand determines how the muscles will obtain energy, either from cellular respiration or from lactic acid fermentation if not enough oxygen is present.

Answer 1

Answer:

A. If the aerobic pathway—cellular respiration—cannot meet the energy demand, then the anaerobic pathway—lactic acid fermentation—starts up, resulting in lactic acid buildup and "oxygen debt."

C. After about 90 seconds of intense exercise, the muscles become depleted of oxygen, and anaerobic respiration can no longer function to produce ATP, resulting in "oxygen debt."

Explanation:

There are two sources of carbohydrates in the human's body for energy (ATP) production. 1) Creatine phosphate and 2) Glycogen. Creatine phosphate metabolizes easily and yields ATP quickly. Whereas glycogen is stored form of carbohydrate which yields energy more slowly. Therefore, initially, our bodies use creatine phosphate and then shift to glycogen. Within 60-90 seconds, the creatinine phosphate in the body is mostly utilized and then energy is produced by the use of glycogen in aerobic pathway. During areobic pathway, oxygen supply is sufficient and per cycle, it produces 32 molecules of ATP. However, when oxygen supply is limited or absent, the body will metabolize glycogen to lactic acid via fermentation and produce only 2 molecules of ATP.

Now consider the example: Kenny hikes all day at a steady pace therefore the supply of oxygen is sufficient for aerobic cellular respiration for ATP production. In this scenario, the oxygen debt is minimal and Kenny relies on aerobic respiration pathway to obtain energy. On the other hand, Janelle runs fast (100 meters in 13.5 seconds) and her cellular respiration would be on the compense of aerobic pathway initially which will be shifted to anaerobic pathway after the supply of oxygen is reduced/minimum. Janelle will heavily rely on the anaerobic pathway because running fast needs energy which cannot be provided via aerobic pathway easily. Therefore, Janelle's body will produce lactic acid and suffer from oxygen debt.