Cellular Respiration

Overview of Cellular Respiration

When oxygen is present, cellular respiration releases chemical energy to make ATP from sugar and other carbon-based molecules. Since the mitochondrion can't make ATP directly from food, it depends on an aerobic process known as glycolysis. Glycolysis is a necessity for cellular respiration in order for the mitochondria to produce ATP. The two parts involved in cellular respiration are the matrix and the inner mitochondrial membrane.

From this lesson, I learned that cellular respiration has the reverse equation of photosynthesis. This means that the products of photosynthesis are the reactants of cellular respiration, which are sugar and CO2. I also learned that the Krebs cycle was named after the scientist who discovered the process. The Krebs cycle takes place in the mitochondria's inner space, also known as the matrix.

Cellular Respiration in Detail

Glycolysis takes place in the cytoplasm before the cellular respiration takes place. Cellular respiration is made up of two processes, which are the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain. The Krebs cycle's main function is to transfer high energy electrons to molecules that carry them to the electron transport chain. The proteins utilize the energy from the electron transport chain to pump hydrogen ions against a concentration gradient.

I learned that cellular respiration makes many more ATP than glycolysis. The electron transport takes place in and across the inner mitochondrion. The difference between cellular respiration and photosynthesis is that cellular releases stored energy as ATP and sugar. In contrast photosynthesis stores energy from sunlight as chemical energy.