Cellular Respiration questions

Question

1. How many total ATP can be made with 1 glucose by a heart or cardiac muscle cell?
2. How many total ATP can be made with 1 glucose by a skeletal muscle cell?
3. How many total ATP are made by kidney cells from 3 glucose molecules?
4. 5 Acetyl CoA will turn the Citric Acid cycle_______times and produce_______FADH2

Answer 1

Hello Clarissa,

Questions 1 and 2 both have the same answer, illustrating the point that all animal cells respire 1 glucose molecule the same way, e.g. a bone cell and a muscles cell will get the same amount of ATP through cellular respiration.

To find the Total ATP Production for 1 Glucose:

In short, the total ATP production for one glucose adheres to a multi-step process of glycolysis, Acetyl Co-A Formation, Citric Acid Cycle, and then Electron Transport Chain. Each step creates a net energy production (in either ATP, NADH, or FADH2 forms); where at the end, NADH and FADH2 is converted into ATP. (That is why we only care about ATP at the end of this process). Below is a summary of each step’s net result and important notes to keep in mind.

Glycolysis is the process of taking glucose (C₆H₁₂0₆) and splitting it into 2 pyruvates (C₃H₆O₃). This process takes 2 ATP to do and generates 4 ATP and 2 NADH, making a net 2 ATP and 2 NADH.

that, each pyruvate is transformed into Acetyl Co-A, where it loses two carbon and creates 2 NADH compounds (one from each)

Next is the Citric Acid Cycle, which is a cycle that produces 1 ATP, 3 NADH and 1 FADH2. Per cycle.

NOTE: Each cycle uses only one Acetyl-CoA, so one glucoses produces two cycles, making the total for the Citric Acid Cycle to be 2 ATP, 6NADH, and 2 FADH2.

Finally, the electron transport Chain converts all the energy into ATP through electrolysis. Each NADH is worth 2.5 ATP and each FADH2 is worth 1.5 ATP, so

Finally tally for one glucose is 4 ATP, 10 NADH, and 2 FADH2 which converts to 30-32 ATP per glucose. (it varies depending on membrane leakage and other factors in glycolysis, 32 is the most accepted)

The last question can be solved using the knowledge of how many FADH2’s are produced per Citric Acid Cycle.

If you need more detail or explanation, do feel free to contact me for an interactive and helpful lesson. of each step