OVERVIEW:

Aerobic Respiration:

Aerobic respiration takes place in all living things and is the complete breakdown of glucose molecules to carbon dioxide and water. Aerobic means in air, but it is the oxygen in the air which is necessary for aerobic respiration. The glucose molecule is broken down, into two molecules of pyruvic acid, inside a cell¡¦s cytoplasm by a process called glycolysis. Glycolysis does not require oxygen and produces two molecules of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) for each glucose molecule. The two pyruvic acid molecules then enter a mitochondrion for two more series of reactions to occur. Enzymes inside the mitochondrion firstly allow a reaction known as the ¡¥Krebs Cycle¡¦ to create another two ATP molecules and continued reactions called the ¡¥Electron Transport System¡¦ can produce another thirty-four molecules of ATP. Therefore a total of thirty-eight ATP molecules may be produced.

Glucose + oxygen,,³ carbon dioxide + water + heat...