hey there besties today we're going to be diving into my absolute favorite topic cellular respiration get ready to explore how cells turn food into Pure Energy powering us through every heartbeat breath and brain wave let's get started this is your first time tuning in welcome my name is Nurse Chong and I'm equipped with a master's degree in nursing education and 13 years of experience in the field cellular respiration begins with an amazing little molecule known as ATP think of it as your body's very best buddy ATP short for Denine triphosphate isn't just a fancy term it's a crucial player for our cells this molecule might sound like high-tech science and that's because it is ATP really packs a punch with its three phosphate groups and it's a kind of nucleic acid so what's the big deal with ATP every cell whether it's a simple procaryote or a more complex ukar needs to produce ATP but the way that they're going to manufacture that ATP is going to vary depending on the cell type one fascinating method is known as aerobic cellular respiration a process Mastered by many organisms in this video we're going to be zooming in on how aerobic cellular respiration Works more specifically when it comes to our eukaryotic cells those of the cells that are equipped with membranebound organel like nuclei and mitochondria you procaryotic cells make up everything from fungi protus animals and plants in this cellular narrative it's the mondria that really steals the spotlight these powerhouses play a crucial role when it comes to aerobic cellular respiration hosting several key stages within the process let's take a broader look when it comes to the equation of aerobic cellular respiration we start off with the chemical equation for glucose in order to unleash that energy that's found within our glucose we're going to need oxygen more specifically six molecules of it through this Dynamic process of cellular respiration we're going to convert that glucose and that oxygen into six molecules of carbon dioxide six molecules of water and that very fancy ATP whenever we're talking about science I like to find things that are super interesting so if you look at the equation when it comes to photosynthesis they really look kind of same the only difference is is we switched our reactants and products for instance in photosynthesis we actually create glucose instead of using it as a reactant with cellular respiration so do you want to hear something else that's super cool have you ever wondered how a seed sprouts and grows underground before it has leaves to perform photosynthesis so here's the deal when a seed first germinates it relies on that stored glucose because it can't harness sunlight yet it's going to break down that glucose through the process of cellular respiration to produce ATP feeling its growth until it eventually reaches the surface as that seedling matures and develops leaves it's going to gain the ability to perform photosynthesis from that point moving forward it can both create its own glucose through photosynthesis and break it down via cellular respiration it's really a dual power strategy but here's the deal if you're a human like me who's not equipped to actually perform photosynthesis we need to obtain glucose from external food sources in order to meet those energy needs so to Kickstart our journey through cellular respiration we're going to start with glycolysis for this first step we're going to need a little bit of glucose let's start with one molecule of it we're going to begin by essentially breaking down that glucose as the name suggests because it ends with o e glucose is a type of sugar during this stage of the process it typically occurs within the cytoplasm and doesn't require oxygen making it an anerobic process the term Anor robic just means without oxygen glycolysis involves splitting that glucose molecule which consists of a six carbon ring into two smaller three carbon molecules known as pyruvic acids or pyruvic molecules so here's the deal glycolysis starts with an investment it's going to require at least two ATP molecules in order to get this going you can think of it as planting seeds for the future by the time that we get to the end end of this process we're going to generate four ATP molecules resulting in a net gain of two in addition to these atps glycolysis is also going to produce two molecules of pyruvate which is what we talked about before and an additional two molecules of nadh which are energy packed particles so you may be wondering what the heck is nadh well it's actually a co-enzyme that plays a crucial role in transferring electrons a capability that proves incredibly useful for generating even more ATP later on down the process in step two those two molecules of pyruvate generated during glycolysis are actively transported to our mitochondria Landing directly in that mitochondrial Matrix here pyruvate are going to undergo oxidation which is just a fancy way of saying that they're going to be transformed each pyruvate molecule is going to be converted into a different molecule called acetal COA this conversion is crucial because acetyl COA is really the star player in the next step of the cellular respiration process carbon dioxide is going to be released as a byproduct of this process and another two molecules of nadh are going to be produced following gsis we transition to the next phase known as the kreb cycle many of you if you've been taking School recently may even hear it called the citric acid cycle so in this cycle we're going back to being aerobic meaning that we have to to have oxygen present in order to make this happen during this cycle carbon dioxide is going to be released as a waste product once again in terms of energy yield we're going to get a couple different things we're going to get ATP at least two of those we're going to get six more nadh but now we're going to get to fadh2 just like with nadh fadh2 is also a co-enzyme that's involved in transferring electrons it's mainly utilized as the last part part of respiration through the electron transport chain and lastly we have the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis truly these are the marveles when it comes to cellular biology in eukariotic cells these processes take place within the mitochondria more specifically the inner mitochondrial membrane this step again requires oxygen making it an aerobic process here we have a very simplified breakdown electrons are going to be transferred from our NAD H and our fadh2 across a series of protein channels and electron carriers these electrons are crucial for generating a proton gradient as protons are actively pumped across the membrane into the intermembrane space this accumulation within the space is going to create both a chemical and electrical gradient it's important to remember that hydrogen does not cross membranes on its own they have to have a pathway in order to get there here that pathway is provided with the incredible enzyme known as ATP synthes within this enzyme a Denine diphosphate which is a precursor of ATP only has two phosphates attached to it it's going to gain its third one through this process making it ATP so during CH osmosis proteins are going to rush down these electrochemical gradients through that ATP synthes which harnesses this flow to synthesize ATP and what's the grand finale oxygen is going to act as the final electron acceptor when oxygen combines with hydrogen we're going to get a result of H2O meaning water and this is an essential product listed in the overall reaction equation when it comes to cellular respiration so you may be wondering exactly how much ATP is generated through this process textbooks often highlight that through cellular respiration a single molecule of glucose can produce not only some heat but also 38 molecules of ATP however this figure represents a best case scenario more commonly the yield that you could see should be between 29 to 30 ATP molecules but as research continues to evolve in this area the precise number is going to vary so for now we're just going to use the optimistic estimates of 38 ATP molecules I hope that this video was helpful in understanding what of my favorite topics cellular respiration as always if you have any additional questions make sure that you leave them down below I love answering your questions you can head over to nurse Chong store.com there's a ton of additional information to help you with those science exams and as always I'm going to catch you in the next video bye