Aerobic respiration is the release of energy from glucose or another organic substrate in the

presence of Oxygen. Strictly speaking aerobic means in air, but it is the Oxygen in the air
which is necessary for aerobic respiration. Anaerobic respiration is in the absence of air.

Here is a molecular model of a glucose molecule. You do not need to memorise the diagram
for you GCSE exam, but it should help you to understand that a molecule of glucose contains
six atoms of Carbon (shown in blue), twelve atoms of Hydrogen (shown in green), and six
atoms of Oxygen (shown in red).

In our tissues glucose can be broken down to release energy. The energy is used to make a
substance called Adenosine Tri-Phosphate or ATP as it is usually called. ATP can provide
energy for other processes such as muscle contractions.

Here is a balanced chemical equation for the process of aerobic respiration. You only need to
memorise this for the Higher Tier GCSE paper, however I am sure that you really want a
grade "A" so why not memorise it.

You should be able to see six carbon atoms on each side of the equation; One molecule of
glucose contains six atoms of Carbon and six molecules of Carbon Dioxide each contain one
atom of Carbon.

You should also be able to see that the Hydrogen is balanced. One molecule of Glucose
contains twelve atoms of Hydrogen and six molecules of water each contain two atoms of
Oxygen.

Now look at the Oxygen. To make six molecules of Carbon Dioxide we need twelve atoms
of Oxygen and to make six molecules of water we need another six atoms of Oxygen. That
makes a total of eighteen atoms of Oxygen. The glucose already contains six atoms of
Oxygen so the cell will need a further six molecules of Oxygen from the air.

The basic minimum knowledge for GCSE biology is the word equation given below. Even if
you don't understand it you can memorise it like a parrot.

Glucose + Oxygen = Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy

Aerobic respiration takes place in almost all living things. It is easy to get rid of the Carbon
Dioxide and excess water; this is excretion (the removal of the toxic waste products of
metabolism), and maximum energy is released from the glucose.

Some organisms can respire in the absence of air: this is anaerobic respiration. This does not
release so much energy and it produces much more toxic waste products. However, if
Oxygen is not available, anaerobic respiration is better than nothing. When this happens in
our muscles we produce lactic acid which gives you cramp. The bacteria in milk produce the
same chemical when they turn it sour. "Lactic" means "of milk". So lactic acid is the acid in
sour milk. Yeasts produce alcohol which is also toxic. Eventually there will be so much
alcohol that the yeast cannot survive.

Last revised: .
Anaerobic respiration
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In biology, anaerobic respiration is a way for an organism to produce usable energy, in the
form of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, without the involvement of oxygen; it is respiration
without oxygen. This process is mainly used by prokaryotic organisms (bacteria) that live in
environments devoid of oxygen. Although oxygen is not used, the process is still called
respiration because the basic three steps of respiration are all used, namely glycolysis, the
citric acid cycle, and the respiratory chain, or electron transport chain. It is the use of the third
and final step that defines the process as respiration. In order for the electron transport chain
to function, a final electron acceptor must be present to take the electron away from the
system after it is used. In aerobic organisms, this final electron acceptor is oxygen. Oxygen is
a highly electronegative atom and therefore is an excellent candidate for the job. In
anaerobes, the chain still functions, but oxygen is not used as the final electron acceptor.
Other less electronegative substances such as sulfate (SO4), nitrate (NO3), and sulfur (S) are
used. Oftentimes, anaerobic organisms are obligate anaerobes, meaning they can only respire
using anaerobic compounds and can actually die in the presence of oxygen.

Anaerobic respiration is not the same as fermentation, which does not use either the citric
acid cycle or the respiratory chain (electron transport chain) and therefore, cannot be
classified as respiration.

Abstract Oxyanions of arsenic and selenium can be used in microbial anaerobic respiration as
terminal electron acceptors. The detection of arsenate and selenate respiring bacteria in
numerous pristine and contaminated environments and their rapid appearance in enrichment
culture suggest that they are widespread and metabolically active in nature. Although the
bacterial species that have been isolated and characterized are still few in number, they are
scattered throughout the bacterial domain and include Gram-positive bacteria, beta, gamma
and epsilon Proteobacteria and the sole member of a deeply branching lineage of the bacteria,
Chrysiogenes arsenatus. The oxidation of a number of organic substrates (i.e. acetate, lactate,
pyruvate, glycerol, ethanol) or hydrogen can be coupled to the reduction of arsenate and
selenate, but the actual donor used varies from species to species. Both periplasmic and
membrane-associated arsenate and selenate reductases have been characterized. Although the
number of subunits and molecular masses differs, they all contain molybdenum. The extent
of the environmental impact on the transformation and mobilization of arsenic and selenium
by microbial dissimilatory processes is only now being fully appreciated.
[edit] Examples of anaerobic respiration
glucose + 3NO3- + 3H2O 6HCO3- + 3NH4+, ΔG0' = -1796 kJ
glucose + 3SO42- + 3H+ 6HCO3- + 3SH-, ΔG0' = -453 kJ
glucose + 12S + 12H2O 6HCO3- + 12SH- + 18H+, ΔG0' = -333 kJ

These very important terminal electron acceptors (nitrate NO3-, sulfate SO42-, elemental sulfur
S) have smaller reduction potentials than O2, meaning that less energy is released per
oxidized molecule of primary electron donor in the above reactions) than in aerobic
respiration (i.e. it is less energetically efficient).