Breathing and Respiration

Many people confuse the terms Breathing and Respiration and often breathing is referred to as respiration, but this is incorrect.

So to be clear:

Breathing is the process of getting oxygen into the lungs and carbon dioxide out of the lungs. It allows for gas exchange to take place so that oxygen can be absorbed from the lungs into the blood and carbon dioxide is removed from the blood and breathed out from the lungs.

 

Respiration is the release of energy from the break down of glucose in living cells. Respiration takes place in every living cell and all cells need to respire to produce the energy they need.