Metabolism Studies

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Metabolism Studies

Abstract
The purpose in experimenting with computer simulations was to compare oxygen consumption rates in different mammalian subclasses. We compared monotremes, marsupials, and placental mammals at both warm and cold temperatures. The results supported our hypothesis that when temperature increased, metabolic rate decreased. This was also supported using a students t-test. We also found that placental mammals had the highest oxygen consumption rates and marsupials had the lowest. We compared oxygen consumption rates in different sized crabs at different temperatures. The results supported our hypothesis that the smaller crab would have a higher rate of consumption. However, in the crabs, as temperature was increased, metabolic rate increased also.
Introduction
The second law of thermodynamics affirms that all living organisms must receive a constant energy input in order to survive (Witz 2000). Almost all bodily activities require energy. It is important to study how animals obtain, process, and dispose of products needed to maintain a positive energy balance. When cellular respiration occurs in the body, heat is produced and given off into the environment by the release of potential energy contained in the chemical bonds of macronutrients. The amount of heat released into the environment and the rate at which chemical reactions occur in the cells are directly related. Two different relationships exist, one that describes the endothermic animal and one that describes the endothermic animal. The rate of heat produced by the endothermic animal while at rest, fasting, and within the thermoneutral zone is dependent upon the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The thermoneutral zone of the endotherm is described as the range of ambient temperatures within which there is a limited change in metabolic rate. The standard metabolic rate is what the rate of heat loss in ectotherms relies upon. The difference between the two rates is the temperature factor. Due to that fact that the temperature of ectotherms has a wider range with ambient temperature than the endotherms, physiologists defined a different measure for the basal level of metabolism.
Although it is possible to measure the animals heat lost to the environment by direct calorimetry, it is easier to use indirect calorimetry. An effective way of measuring heat loss is to use the rate of oxygen consumption. Since oxygen is required by most animal cells using biochemical pathways to metabolize...

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