Answer:
Cellular respiration is the process employed by cells to release energy from food and store it as ATP.
Explanation:
Cellular respiration is a metabolic (catabolic) process that all living organisms ranging from microscopic bacteria to large organisms undergo.
Cellular respiration is the biochemical process in which the cells of organisms obtain energy by breaking down biological molecules such as carbohydrate (glucose) in the presence of oxygen (in case of aerobic respiration) or absence of oxygen (anaerobic respiration), resulting in the release of Carbondioxide (CO2), water, and a high energy molecule called Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy currency in cells. Food molecules absorbed after digestion are taken in, broken down and the freed energy is used to power the organism's movement and physiological functioning.
Cellular respiration occurs in the cytosol of prokaryotes and the mitochondria and cytosol of eukaryotes. Aerobic cellular respiration (with oxygen) consists of three consecutive processes viz; Glycolysis, Kreb's cycle and Oxidative phosphorylation (Electron transport chain and Chemiosmosis), where a total of 38 ATP molecules are produced in prokaryotic organisms and 36 ATP molecules in eukaryotic organisms. The 2 deficient ATP's are used for transport to the mitochondria.
The General equation of an aerobic cellular respiration is:
C6H1206 + 6O2 -------> 6CO2 + 6H2O + ATP
