Glycolysis, Krebs Cycle, And Electron Transport Chain

In the process of cellular respiration, there are three main parts; Glycolysis, Krebs Cycle, and Electron Transport Chain. All three of these processes form together to make cellular respiration happen, and that gives our bodies energy to do the work that we need to perform every single day. Without cellular respiration, our bodies would not have enough energy to perform everyday tasks, let alone live and survive. The first process, glycolysis, starts with a few molecules of glucose. There are two parts in glycolysis. The first is the Investment Phase, and the second is the Harvest Phase. The first step in the Investment Phase is that the molecule of glucose has “P’s,” or enzymes that give it energy to go through the cell membrane to get
to where the glucose turns into energy for the body. The second step is where 1,6 Fructose Biphosphate has two “P’s” that go through the fructose and turn into enzymes. They then produce G3P’s, which need to be turned into energy. They then travel to the Harvest Phase, where the two G3P’s lose hydrogens and add P’s, which makes it no longer a G3P. The two hydrogens that are lost find the two NAD’s, turns them into NADH’s. The NADH’s need to “go to the bank,” so they end up losing four P’s that become ATP. After the four P’s are taken away, the two NADH’s turn into pyruvates. The next part of cellular respiration is the Krebs Cycle, or the Citric Acid Cycle.
The glucose that turned into the two pyruvates are in the cytoplasm of the cell, but need to go into the mitochondria for the Krebs Cycle. If there is no oxygen in the cell, the pyruvates go through Lactic Acid Fermentation, and wait until there is oxygen in the cell. Once there is oxygen in the cell, or if the cell already had oxygen, then the two pyruvates go into the mitochondria. Once in, the pyruvates join together with the three carbons that are going through the Krebs Cycle. They make CO2 and NADH, and form to make citric acid. Together now, there are six carbons, and they then go through an enzyme, which makes them lose a carbon, and make more CO2 and one more NADH. The five carbons go through another enzyme, lose another carbon, and make more CO2 and one more NADH. After that, the citric acid and pyruvates make an ATP that we can use for energy. The four carbons go through another enzyme and make oe FADH2. The four carbons go through another enzyme, and make one more NADh. The four carbons go through two more enzymes before going back to the start of the Krebs Cycle, and keeps repeating it over and over again. In all, each pyruvate makes one FADH2, four NADH’s, one ATP, and three carbons. Multiply those by two to get the total amount of energy made in the Krebs Cycle. The two FADH2’s and the eight NADH’s have to “go to the bank” to be made into energy that the cell can use, and that
is where the Electron Transport Chain strats. The final process in cellular respiration is the Electron Transport Chain. The two NADH’s that need to be turned into energy have to go through the inner membrane of the mitochondria. The hydrogen of the NADH goes through the inner membrane, while the NAD goes back around to pick up more hydrogens. The FADH does the same thing. The FADH goes to the inner membrane, the hydrogen goes through, and the FAD comes back around to pick up more hydrogens. The electrons from the hydrogens bounce around the membrane to get to the oxygen. The positive charge of the hydrogen goes through the membrane, but follows the negative charge to where they meet and are spun into ATP that can be used for energy. In all, the process of glycolysis makes four ATP, and the two NADH’s from glycolysis make six ATP. The Krebs Cycle makes two ATP, the two FADH2’s from Krebs make four ATP, and the eight NADH’s from Krebs make twenty-four ATP. All together, that is forty ATP all together, minus two ATP that were used. So, in all, 38 ATP, at most, are made in the process of cellular respiration.