Cellular Respiration

AP Biology· difficulty 2/5

Aerobic ~32 ATP Anaerobic 2 ATP ATP yield per glucose

Why does aerobic respiration yield far more ATP than fermentation?

  • A

    Glycolysis runs more times in aerobic conditions

  • B

    Aerobic conditions raise glucose concentration

  • C

    Pyruvate can be fully oxidized via Krebs and ETC, capturing energy in many NADH/FADH2 used by ATP synthase

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  • D

    Fermentation does not produce any NADH

Explanation

With O2, pyruvate is fully oxidized to CO2; the resulting NADH and FADH2 drive oxidative phosphorylation, multiplying ATP yield far beyond glycolysis alone.

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