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Brian Suarez
Completed with Yeonah Suk, Michelle Lee, and Agron
12/14/12
SBS21X (Period 1 & 2)
Ms. Brady
Brian Suarez
Completed with Yeonah Suk, Michelle Lee, and Agron
12/14/12
SBS21X (Period 1 & 2)
Ms. Brady
Introduction To be able to carry on metabolic processes in the cell, cells need energy. The cells can obtain their energy in different ways but the most efficient way of harvesting stored food in the cell is through cellular respiration. Cellular respiration is a catabolic pathway, which breaks down large molecules to smaller molecules, produces an energy rich molecule known as ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and a waste product that is released as CO2. Basically, cellular respiration is a metabolic process that releases energy from organic compounds (such as C6H12O6) by metabolic chemical oxidation in the mitochondria within each cell. Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats can all be broken down into fuel for the cell but cellular respiration is usually correlated with glucose. Cellular respiration also requires O2 to carry out its pathway, as oxygen will act as a final electron acceptor. So, the final equation that can be represented for Cellular Respiration is: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + heat. Cellular respiration is divided into three different stages. Glycolysis, the first stage of cellular respiration, splits simple carbohydrates such as glucose into two molecules of ATP, two molecules of pyruvic acid, and two electron carried that have high energy that are known as NADH. This part of cellular respiration does not need oxygen, therefore ATP can be created by glycolysis, but it only makes a small amount and this method is not the most efficient method. The next stage in cellular respiration is the Citric Acid Cycle. This stage commences when the two pyruvate acids are converted into acetyl CoA. This pyruvate oxidation will produce 2 NADH and then the acetyl CoA will enter