Question

Why is less energy produced during anaerobic respiration than in aerobic respiration?

Answer 1

Hint: Cellular respiration is the process of breakdown and conversion of food nutrients into useful energy inside a cell. In this process, energy released is used up to maintain the different biological functions and processes of the body. As the process occurs in the cellular level, it is known as cellular respiration.

Complete answer:
The cellular respiration can be described as the chain of metabolic processes which converts the chemical energy contained in the food into energy in the form of ATP. The process of cellular respiration breaks down the complex nutrient elements such as carbohydrates, into simpler elements. It occurs inside the cell and the released energy fuels the cellular activity. Cellular energy is of two types which are aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration.

Aerobic respiration is the type of cellular energy that occurs in the presence of oxygen. The process requires oxygen to produce ATP or energy molecules. The important reactants of this process are carbohydrates which are broken down into pyruvates and to produce ATP, water and carbon dioxide. It is the common and preferred method of generation of energy and produces about 36 ATP molecules.

Anerobic respiration is the cellular respiration that takes place in absence of oxygen. In this process, the end product, along with ATP molecules, is acid or alcohol. This process is very common in yeast and bacteria. In human anaerobic respiration occurs in the muscle fibers and lactic acid is produced. Yeast are able to produce ethanol during anaerobic respiration.

The energy production of anaerobic respiration is much less than the aerobic reactions. In aerobic respiration, 36 molecules of ATP are formed. In anaerobic respiration, less energy is extracted. In this process only 02 ATP molecules are produced by each glucose molecule and the glucose molecules are partially broken down. The reaction yields less energy as compared to the aerobic respiration because the end product is alcohol and not carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide which is the end product of aerobic respiration.

Note: Anaerobic respiration glucose is broken down partially to produce acid or alcohol and the process takes place in absence of oxygen. It occurs in microorganisms such as bacteria and yeasts. The energy production in the form of ATP is much less than in the aerobic process as the end product is not carbon dioxide and there is no oxygen as the final electron acceptor. All these factors cause less energy production in anaerobic respiration than aerobic respiration.