What is the Equation of Aerobic Cellular Respiration?

Anaerobic cellular respiration is the process that cells in living organisms use to produce ATP and break down glucose. However, aerobic cellular respiration is the process that they use to produce a larger amount of ATP through oxidizing molecules in their cytoplasm. It’s rate can be increased by things like exercise and exercise training, as well as by anaerobic glycolysis, which is most effective when glucose levels are low.

Which of these equations describes aerobic cellular respiration?

Aerobic cellular respiration is the oxidation of glucose to produce ATP. The equation 2CO2 + 2H2A + 36ADP + 38Pi + energy → C6H12O6 + 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy is the equation that describes aerobic cellular respiration. This reaction takes place in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells.

The reaction begins with glucose being broken down into carbon dioxide and water, releasing energy and producing adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi). For every molecule of glucose, there are six molecules of ATP produced. At the beginning of the reaction, glucose is broken down into three molecules of pyruvate and two molecules of acetyl-CoA. 

Energy production in aerobic cellular respiration

Aerobic cellular respiration begins with the process of oxidative phosphorylation, which is an electron transport chain process that is how most ATP is produced. This method works because the movement of electrons through a gradient potential, across a membrane (made of proteins), and into another compartment allows for the formation of more bond energy.

 The end result of this reaction is simple: ATP synthase is a membrane protein that catalyzes phosphate groups to be added to ADP, creating more ATP than was used in the first place.

The final electron transport chain reaction that fuels aerobic cellular respiration is the Haber-Bosch process. This reaction requires that NAD+ be produced through the cytoplasm. Under these conditions, it allows CO and H to be added as electrons to NADH to form a molecule called acetyl-CoA. 

Then this molecule can enter the Krebs cycle, where a series of reactions in which ATP is made from acetyl-CoA (which is then catalyzed by an enzyme named ATP citrate lyase), also known as oxidative phosphorylation. The final step is that the NADH and acetyl-CoA molecules formed in this reaction are used to form ATP.

It’s important to note that when glucose is broken down into pyruvate and acetyl-CoA, it’s transformed from a molecule that the body can use directly into a molecule which the body can convert into ATP. This molecule is called citrate, and it’s stored in cytoplasmic membranes before being used by mitochondria. Citrate provides cells with a quick way to produce more energy than they would have saved during cellular respiration.

The power of aerobic cellular respiration

ATP is made every time a cell makes more chemical bonds than it breaks apart. It’s the most important molecule to living organisms, because it provides energy during processes that require moving molecules around. 

The larger the molecule or the more bonds it has, the more energy is produced. The bonds that hold together glucose molecules break apart, but during aerobic cellular respiration there’s a regeneration of these bonds. The result is a lot of ATP being generated for every glucose molecule that has gone through this process.

Cellular respiration can be increased in these organisms by exercise training, but anaerobic glycolysis is most effective when glucose levels are low. This mechanism only produces two molecules of ATP for every molecule of glucose. However, it’s important to note that it’s also possible for aerobic glycolysis to occur in cells if they need more energy and they can’t get it from other sources at the moment.

Adenosine triphosphate mitochondria

The mitochondria provide cells with their energy needs. They’re like little power plants that release the energy they generate as ATP. However, they can only do this when they have a large amount of oxygen available to them (in a process known as aerobic respiration). 

The reason that there’s a need for so much oxygen is because oxygen is needed to remove other molecules which are highly unstable and can damage cells. Oxygen also reacts with electrons in the cytoplasm to make hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals. These molecules can damage mitochondrial components, which is why it’s important that there be a large amount of oxygen present when they’re made.

Aerobic respiration provides cells with the energy they need to be alive. In order for this process to occur, there must be electron transport chains in mitochondria. These chains use proteins and molecules like iron-sulfur clusters, hemes, and cytochromes (such as cytochrome c). 

All of these molecules are necessary because they make more complex molecules (like ATP) from simpler ones (like ADP). What’s also important about this process is that it starts out with a molecule that can generate ATP called pyruvate.