Lecture 10a Flashcards
True or false
chemical elements essential to life are recycled
true
what does photosynthesis do?
it generates oxygen and organic molecules that are used by the mitochondria of eukaryotes as fuel for cellular respiration.
respiration breaks this fuel down which generates ATP
how are complex organic molecules broken down?
broken down by digestion into simpler components that are absorbed by the blood and transported to all cells
what are three processess where we get ATP?
1) glycolysis with fermentation
2) aerobic cellular respiration
3) anaerobic cellular respiration
what is glycolysis with fermentation?
a process in which organic compounds are incompletely broken down to produce a few ATP under anaerobic conditions
anaerobic = no oxygen
what are the two types of fermentation?
1) alcohol fermentation:
- produces ethanol and organic acids
- perfomes by many bacteria under anaerobic conditions
2) lactic acid fermentation
- produces lactate
- performed by certain fungi, bacteria and animals under anaerobic conditions
what is aerobic cellular respiration?
- uses oxygen to breakdown glucose to produce large quantities of ATP
- **most efficient catabolic pathway **
used by eukaryotes and certain prokaryotes
what is anaerobic cellular respiration?
- uses molecules such as nitrate or sulfate instead of oxygen to breakdown glucose to produce large quantities of ATP
used by certain prokaryotes
what is the equation for cellular respiration with glucose?
the transfer of electrons releases the energy from glucose and this energy is used to synthesize ATP
why can’t we perform aerobic cellular respiration in one step?
because the body temperature is not high enough to initiate the instantaneous combination of hydrogen with oxygen
- if energy is released all at once, it cannot be used efficiently for constructive work.
why does every oxidation reaction need to be accompanied by a reduction reaction?
because the electrons released during the oxidation process cannot exist in a free state in living cells
a lot of work is powered by simple electron transfers
what is redox reactions?
reduction + oxidation = redox
what is oxidation?
the loss of electrons by a less electronegative molecule, releases energy
- loss of electrons
- removes a hydrogen
- adds oxygen
- caused by an oxidizing agent
what is reduction?
gaining electrons by a more electronegative molecule, receives energy
- positive charge reduced ( by adding e-)
- gain of electrons = gaining energy
- adds hydrogens
- removes oxygen
- caused by a reducing agent
which molecule is the reducing agent and which is the oxidizing agent?
C6H8O6 = reducing agent
NO2 = oxidizing agent
what are electron carrier molecules and give two main ones?
electron carriers are molecules that are used to transfer electrons and protons to oxygen
NAD+ ( nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide ) - oxidized forn NAD+ and reduced form NADH
FAD (flavi adenine dinucleotide) - oxidized form FAD and reduced form FADH2
NADH and FADH2 temporarily store large amounts of free energy
what is the most versatile electron acceptor in cellular respiration and functions in several redox steps in the breakdown of sugar?
NAD+
NAD+ functions as an oxidizing agent and temporarily stores free energy
what is the coenzyme to enzymes called dehydogenases ?
NAD+