Anaerobic Respiration Lab Report

1. Heterotrophs obtain energy from carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins by initiating specific enzyme controlled reactions that break down these complex molecules. The bonds of these molecules often store energy, so as they are broken down the cell can often harvest some of that energy that is released from the exothermic reaction.
2. Fermentation occurs because in order for a cell to derive it's energy from purely anaerobic respiration, there must be an ample amount of NAD+. Fermentation allows for the reduced NADH+, by glycolsis, to be turned back into NAD+ with a byproduct of lactic acid in humans and mammals.
3. The difference between Alcoholic and Lactic Acid fermentation is that as a result of this process Alcoholic fermentation produces

The pyruvate molecule is first oxidized and so it loses 1 carbon that combines with 2 oxygens to release a carbon dioxide, then the electron lost from this process allows for the NAD+ to be reduced into NADH. Then co enzyme A goes and bonds with the acetyl group to produce acetyl coa A which then enters the Krebs cycle. This process contributes to ATP production because it creates acetyl coa A, a necessary reactant for the Krebs cycle that then produces additional ATP. If this oxidation didn't occur then the Krebs cycle would fail to commence which then wouldn't allow for the final processes in the mitochondria to produce even more

NADH and FADH2 are two types of electron carriers primarily produced by the Krebs cycle. These 2 electron carriers then go into the ETC where they are oxidized, and their respective electrons go through the process and allow for hydrogen to be pumped out into inner membrane.
10. The ETC first works by oxidizing the NADH into NAD+ and the electron travels through the 3 protein complexes that then pump H+'s into the inner membrane space creating a proton gradient (high concentration of H+ in the inner membrane). The high concentration of H+ in the inner membrane then allows for chemiosmosis the process by which H+'s travel through the turbine spinning ATP synthase to then power the phosphorlation of ADP into ATP. The leftover H+'s (2 of them) then combine with the reduced negatively charged oxygen to produce H2O as a byproduct of cellular respiration.
11. Chemiosmosis is the process by which protons which are highly concentrated in the inner membrane, flow through the ATP synthase because there is lower concentration of protons in the matrix.
12. The proton gradient is established as the electron moves through the 3 protein complexes, H+'s are constantly being pumped out into the inner membrane. This excessive pumping then establishes this