• Question: What is breathing? and why do we do it?

    Asked by preshous333 to Faye, Martin, Mus, Pete on 15 May 2012.
    • Photo: Faye Didymus

      Faye Didymus answered on 15 May 2012:

      Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs. Breathing helps us to get oxygen into our bodies and remove carbon dioxide and water. Without breathing, we wouldn’t be alive because our tissues and cells wouldn’t have the oxygen that they need to function properly. So the simple answer is that we breathe to stay alive!

Comments

  • Photo: Maria

    Maria commented on :

    Breathing is what keeps us alive. All our organs need oxygen to carry out their life sustaining functions. When we breathe in the air that comes into our lungs contains three elements; 21% oxygen, 79% nitrogen and 0.03% carbon dioxide. Oxygen is used in the organs and tissues for their metabolism. For example, oxygen is needed to break down glucose molecules from carbohydrate rich food (past, rice, bread, cake) to release energy. During this process the cells give off carbon dioxide which is a waste product that needs to be expelled from the body via expiration. So, when we breathe out we always release more carbon dioxide than we have breathed in, less oxygen and the same amount of nitrogen (our body does not use nitrogen).