Respiration Rate Calculator

Work out respiration rate instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Respiration Rate Calculator

Divides carbon dioxide production by tissue mass and time to give a mass-specific respiration rate.

Formula

Respiration rate

Rate = carbon dioxide volume / (tissue mass x time); micromoles = volume (mL) / 22.4 x 1000

Worked example

With the default values below, Respiration Rate Calculator returns Respiration rate of 0.80000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Carbon dioxide producedaccepts 0.01–1,000 mL: 8 mL
Tissue massaccepts 0.01–10,000 g: 5 g
Durationaccepts 0.05–240 h: 2 h

Results

Respiration rate: 0.80000 mL CO2/g/h
Carbon dioxide per hour: 4.0000 mL/h
Carbon dioxide produced: 357.143 micromol
Rate: 35.714 micromol/g/h

Step by step

1Values used
2Respiration rate
3Respiration rate= 0.80000 mL CO2/g/h
4Carbon dioxide per hour= 4.0000 mL/h
5Carbon dioxide produced= 357.143 micromol
6Rate= 35.714 micromol/g/h

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 5 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the respiratory quotient?

The ratio of carbon dioxide produced to oxygen consumed: 1.0 for carbohydrate, about 0.7 for lipid.

Why does mass-specific rate fall with body size?

Metabolic rate scales with roughly the three-quarter power of mass, so larger organisms respire less per gram.