Cellular Respiration Process

What are the processes involved in cellular respiration? How do enzymes perform an important role in the mitochondria? How does the mitochondria use chemiosmotic gradients? How did the mitochondria evolve? The mitochondria are organelles found within eukaryotic cells, that produce energy for the cell. There are many chemical processes and important molecules involved in the mitochondria. Cellular respiration is the chemical process that makes the energy needed for the cell in the form of ATP. In cellular respiration, glucose and six molecules of oxygen produces six molecules of carbon dioxide and six molecules of water. “The overall chemical reaction for cellular respiration is… “C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O” (“CK-12 Foundation”). Cellular respiration can be broken down into three stages: glycolysis, krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain. Stage one of cellular respiration is glycolysis. Glycolysis is the splitting of glucose. “Glucose, a six carbon sugar, is split into two molecules of a three carbon sugar. In the process, two molecules of …show more content…
Chemiosmosis is a type of facilitated diffusion that takes place over the plasma membrane of a cell. Chemiosmosis is based on the concentration of molecules and electrically charged atoms or ions. Not only does diffusion work to make the concentration equal on both sides of the membrane, but also to equalize charge. The molecules move from an area from a high concentration to a low concentration. If there are more positive charged atoms outside the cell than inside the cell, they will want to move down their electrical gradient inside the cell. “Through a series of protein pumps in the electron transport chain, hydrogen ions are pumped across the membrane creating a chemiosmotic gradient.”(“How Do Mitochondria Use Chemiosmotic Gradients”). Basically, the chemiosmotic gradient drives the electron transport chain. The energy used from proton diffusion transforms ADP into