AP BIOLOGY

THE CELL

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE CELL

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Gasoline is to a car as glucose is to a
A
mitochondrion
B
nucleus
C
vacuole
D
cell wall
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The process of cellular respiration is similar to a car using gasoline as fuel. As gasoline is the fuel for a car, glucose is the fuel for a cell. A car burns gasoline and uses the energy released for movement. Similarly, a cell ‘burns’ glucose to capture the energy and create ATP.

Detailed explanation-2: -Glucose is metabolized by glycolysis to pyruvate and enters mitochondria to undergo a further metabolic pathway of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle.

Detailed explanation-3: -When glucose is converted to pyruvate by glycolysis, only a very small fraction of the total free energy potentially available from the glucose is released. In mitochondria, the metabolism of sugars is completed: the pyruvate is imported into the mitochondrion and oxidized by O2 to CO2 and H2O.

Detailed explanation-4: -Glucose is converted into ATP by cellular respiration. One molecule of glucose produces 38 ATP molecules by aerobic respiration in the cytoplasm and mitochondria. The steps involved in cellular respiration are glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.

There is 1 question to complete.