What do food molecules react with during cellular respiration?
Responses
carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide
oxygen
oxygen
other food molecules
other food molecules
glucose
glucose
During cellular respiration, food molecules react with oxygen. The primary food molecule involved in cellular respiration is glucose.
During cellular respiration, food molecules, specifically glucose, react with oxygen. This process occurs in the cells of living organisms and is responsible for converting food into energy.
To understand how this happens, we need to look at the steps involved in cellular respiration. The process of cellular respiration can be summarized in three main stages: glycolysis, the Krebs cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle), and oxidative phosphorylation (also known as the electron transport chain).
1. Glycolysis: This is the initial step of cellular respiration and takes place in the cytoplasm of the cell. During glycolysis, glucose molecules are broken down into smaller molecules called pyruvate. This process does not require oxygen and happens regardless of its presence.
2. Krebs cycle: After glycolysis, if oxygen is present, the pyruvate molecules move into the mitochondria of the cell. In the mitochondria, the pyruvate undergoes further chemical reactions in a series of steps known as the Krebs cycle. Here, the carbon atoms from the pyruvate are released as carbon dioxide molecules. Along with the release of carbon dioxide, high-energy electrons are also produced and transferred to carrier molecules.
3. Oxidative phosphorylation: The carrier molecules with high-energy electrons formed in the Krebs cycle move to the inner membrane of the mitochondria, where they participate in a series of reactions called oxidative phosphorylation. During this process, the electrons from the carrier molecules are transferred along an electron transport chain, which ultimately generates ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the main energy carrier molecule of the cell. Oxygen acts as the final electron acceptor in this chain, which helps drive the production of ATP.
So, in summary, during cellular respiration, glucose reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy in the form of ATP.