How does an electron chnage ADP to ATP, I have a question which asks me the role of NADH and FADH in generating ATP. But the problem is I don't understand the basic princple of electrons, how if they are negatively chrged do they produce energy.
2007-01-09 02:58:51 · 2 answers · asked by Lora 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
i am staring to understand the impotance og hydrogen out i still don't understand the roll of electrons e.g electron transport chain
2007-01-09 03:46:37 · update #1
The answer below is very good but still leaves the question of how does the H+ give the energy to ATP enzynme
2007-01-09 06:10:40 · update #2
Electrons do not change ADP to ATP directly, as this requires a phosphate group. However electrons provide the energy requied to do this.
Consider that the whole breakdown of glucose to CO2 and water is really to pull off electrons from the carbons. Carbon in glucose has an oxidation number of 0, while the oxidation number of carbon in CO2 is +4....this means that each carbon has lost 4 electrons in the process of glycolysis and Kreb's.
The electrons are removed and added to NAD+ and FAD to make NADH and FADH2, which are simply electron carriers.
Now the NADH and FADH2 drop electrons off to the electron acceptors in the electron transport chain (ETC). I always use the analogy of a waterfall to describe how electrons provide the energy to shove a phosphate group onto ADP to make ATP: the energy of the electrons decreases as they are being passed from one molecule to another in the ETC. This energy is used to pump H+ ions across the inner membrane and the concentration gradient becomes very high.
The ATP synthase enzyme opens up and uses the energy of the H+ ions moving across membrane to shove phosphate onto ADP.
So really the electrons are stripped of their energy gradually, and the enrgy is used to form an H+ gradient that drives ATP synthesis.
The electrons finally are accepted by oxygen, along with 2 H+, and we make the water in the cellular respiration equation!
I hope this helps you!
2007-01-09 04:41:22 · answer #1 · answered by teachbio 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Aerobic cellular respiration is respiration completed with Oxygen Anaerobic is respiration without the need for oxygen
2016-05-22 22:43:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋