My biology teacher said that water and CO2 are the byproducts of aerobic respiration and went on to explain the Krebs/citric acid cycle. And we were given this equation:
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O
Does that mean we will drown in our own water that we give off? Wow that blows my mind.
multiply this by the world population and it becomes significant over time...
princess leia
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Well you won't drown in your own waste products, but you do contribute a certain amount of water and co2 to the atmosphere just as much as greenhouse gases do. The 2 main byproducts of human and animal respiration are water and CO2 and the main output is 36 moles of ATP (energy to do work):
C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + 36 ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
Aerobic respiration requires oxygen in order to generate energy (ATP). Plants respire also but the mechanism is different. So the more food you consume, and the more acitivities you engage in: sports, running, dancing, etc. the more water and co2 every (aerobic) living thing is adding to the atmosphere.
It means we are literally making the oceans rise and making the islands sink. We will have to find other planets to live on or at least bottle it up and ship it off to other planets.
If you are concerned, please write or petition your Space Agency to begin transporting bottled water to the Moon, Mars and all over the Solar System, for future generations of spacefarers.
Dvandom
Nope. The amount of water given off in respiration is too small to condense into enough liquid to drown you. CO2 is more likely to do you in if you're trapped with your Krebs byproducts, anyway.
ZikZak
No, the water you produce departs through your urine, sweat, and as humidity through your lungs. The CO2 is expelled through your lungs. No drowning.
There's no addition overall of water and CO2 to the universe, either. Where do you think the C6H12O6 came from?
Anonymous
Don't forget METHANE.....