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Glossary Cellular Respiration
aerobic – a process which requires oxygen; aerobic respiration is the process in which
pyruvic acid is broken down and NADH is used to make a large amount of ATP
anaerobic – describes a process that does not require oxygen
autotroph – an organism that produces its own nutrients from inorganic substances or
from the environment instead of consuming other organisms
catalyst – a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction by reducing the
activation energy, but which is left unchanged by the reaction.
cellular respiration – the process by which cells produce energy from carbohydrates;
atmospheric oxygen combines with glucose to form water and carbon dioxide
energy - the ability to do work. It is a scalar physical quantity. Although energy is
conserved, there are many different types of energy, such as kinetic energy, potential
energy, light, sound, and nuclear energy.
enzyme - a protein that functions as a catalyst for a chemical reaction
fermentation - the breakdown of carbohydrates by enzymes, bacteria, yeasts or mold in
the absence of oxygen; energy releasing process: anaerobic respiration
glucose - a simple monosaccharide sugar that serves as the main source of energy and as
an important metabolic substrate for most living things. Its chemical formula is: C6H12O6
glycolysis – the anaerobic breakdown of glucose to pyruvic acid, which makes a small
amount of energy available to cells in the form of ATP
heterotroph - an organism that obtains organic food molecules by eating other organisms
or their byproducts an that cannot synthesize organic compounds from inorganic
materials.
Krebs Cycle – a series of biochemical reactions that convert pyruvic acid into carbon
dioxide and water; it is the major pathway of oxidation in animal, bacterial and plant cells
and it releases energy.
pyruvic acid - the three carbon compound produced during glycolysis and needed both
for aerobic and anaerobic pathways of cellular respiration that follow glycolysis
respiration release of energy contained in sugars for use in metabolism and changes
carbohydrate “fuel” back into carbon dioxide, which is in turn released back to the
atmosphere. The amount of carbon taken up by photosynthesis and released back to the
atmosphere by respiration each year is about 1,000 times greater than the amount of
carbon that moves through the geological cycle on an annual basis.