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CAIE A-Level Biology 12.1.6 Calculating Respiratory Quotient

Practise balancing substrate oxidation, extracting CO₂ and O₂ coefficients and reporting the unitless CO₂-produced to O₂-consumed ratio at the requested precision.

Syllabus
2028–2030
Course
Biology 9700
Level
A2

Exam points

  • balance substrate oxidation before extracting carbon-dioxide and oxygen coefficients
  • divide CO₂ produced by O₂ consumed using coefficients, moles or equal-condition volumes
  • report RQ without units and apply the question’s required decimal-place instruction

12.1.6—RQ calculations question 1

[Maximum number: 2]

The respiratory quotient, RQ, is used to show which substrate is being metabolised by cells. It can be determined using the equation below.

RQ= molecules of carbon dioxide released  molecules of oxygen taken in \mathrm{RQ}=\frac{\text { molecules of carbon dioxide released }}{\text { molecules of oxygen taken in }}

Lauric acid is a saturated fatty acid found in coconuts and has a chain of 12 carbon atoms.

Calculate the RQ value for lauric acid.

Show your working. Give your answer to 2 decimal places.
answer =

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