Two carbon atoms enter the cycle and two carbon atoms are lost as carbon dioxide One molecule of ATP is produced Four pairs of hydrogen atoms are removed, 3 NAD+ molecules are reduced to NADH and 1 FAD molecule is reduced to FADH2 ALL the molecules of reduced electron carriers are reoxidised in the electron transport chain. This process also liberates a large amount of energy which can be used to make ATP Electron Transport Chain This is also known as oxidative phosphorylation and is the process by which ATP is formed when electrons are transferred from NADH or FADH2 to oxygen by a series of electron carriers. This is a major source of ATP in organisms as the oxidation of each NADH molecule produces 3 molecules ATP and the oxidation of each FADH2 produces 2 molecules of ATP How it works Each hydrogen atom splits into a proton (H+) and an electron(e-). The inner mitochondial membrane contains numerous electron carriers. The transfer of electrons to oxygen through these carriers leads to protons being pumped out of the matrix into the intermembrane space. As electrons flow through the ETC energy is released. This energy can be used to transfer protons across the mitochondrial membrane. As the concentration of H+ protons increase outside the membrane it creates a pH gradient and an electrical potential across it. The protons flow back into the matrix across the membrane through a large enzyme called ATP synthase. This enzyme uses this energy to join ADP and P to make ATP Electrons are transferred to oxygen through a series of protein complexes including coenzyme Q. Oxygen acts as the final electron acceptor and is reduced to form water as shown O2 + 4H+ + 4e- 2H2O
The final product of the ETC is then water
Yield of ATP We can work out how much ATP is produced during respiration Glycolysis 2 x ATP Glycolysis 2 x NADH 6 x ATP Link reaction 2 x NADH 6 x ATP Krebs Cycle 2 x ATP Krebs 2 x FADH2 4 x ATP Krebs 6 x NADH 18 x ATP The complete oxidation of glucose under lab conditions is 2870kJ mol-1. the total free energy stored in 36 ATP is 1100kJ so the efficiency of ATP formation from glucose is