Question

What are the three important aspects of the overall chemical equation of respiration, pertaining to the following?
(i) Single or several steps
(ii) Direct or enzyme-catalysed
(iii) Forms of energy liberated

Answer 1

Listed below are three important aspects:
(i) The breakdown of glucose to water and carbon dioxide does not take place in a single step, but in a series of chemical steps, which occur in two phases:

• Glycolysis (cytoplasm)
• Krebs cycle (mitochondria)
  

(ii) Every breakdown step is due to a particular enzyme.
(iii) The energy that is liberated in the disintegration of the glucose molecule is not all in the form of heat but a large part of its converted into chemical energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).