The transition from glucose to ATP doesn’t take place all at once, though. Sound familiar? That’s probably because our bodies take in oxygen, our cells use it for respiration, and we breathe out carbon dioxide! When you use those to make ATP, carbon dioxide and water will also be produced. It goes a little something like this:Ĭ 6H 12O 6 + 6O 2 → 6CO 2 + 6H 2O + Energy (approximately 38 ATP)īasically, what this chemical formula says is that in order to produce ATP, you need a molecule of glucose and some oxygen. So how do you make ATP? Cellular respiration. In your body, ATP is involved in muscle contraction, the transmission of nerve impulses, transporting ions and molecules across cell membranes, and a host of anabolic reactions such as the assembly of proteins and lipids. When ATP is broken down into ADP, stored-up energy is released. ATP is the real deal when it comes to powering your cells’ functions-it’s the arcade token you need to play skee-ball or Tetris or Pacman. The energy in glucose is transferred to a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
You’ve broken down that $20 (a polysaccharide) into a bunch of $1 bills (glucose) and you’re ready to get yourself some shiny gold tokens so you can play games! Adenosine Triphosphate: Biological Arcade TokenĪs much as it might seem so, glucose isn’t energy per se. If you were following the arcade metaphor from the previous post, now it’s time for the good part. Now it’s time to talk about how the body uses glucose to create one of the most important molecules in biology: ATP. In Part 1 of our Energy & Metabolism overview, we talked about the different types of nutrients your body needs and how it breaks them down into chemical components your body can use. Energy & Metabolism Part 2: Cellular Respiration
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