List four ways in which aerobic is like burning?

Answer 1

- Oxygen needed;

- Exothermic reaction;

- Produces Carbon Dioxide and water

- It requires a continuous supply of oxygen and fuel to sustain itself - the fuel being glucose.

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The previous answer is spot-on but since it was flagged, I'll just add an example to help clarity.

Let's look at a general equation for aerobic respiration:

C6H12O6 + 6O2 ---> 6CO2 + 6H2O

It becomes clear that this is also a combustion (burning) reaction. We need O2 for it, see the left-side of the equation.

It produces energy - we can see this intuitively since burning things gives us heat and eating C6H12O6 (Glucose, a sugar) gives us energy.

The equation shows us it creates CO2 and H2O, which all combustions do.

And yes, O2 and the fuel (C6H12O6 in this case) are needed in continuous supply for this to continue occurring.

For the sake of comparison, here is a balanced equation for the combustion of Methane gas, like on a gas cooker. See the similarities!

CH4 + 2O2 ---> CO2 + 2H2O