Cellular respiration is the process in which living things convert the foods they eat into ATP energy. Cellular respiration is important because without it living things could not survive. The mitochondria is a cellular organelle that plays a large role in cellular respiration. Cellular respiration requires water, oxygen and glucose. As a byproduct of cellular respiration carbon dioxide and ATP are produced.
There are 2 types of cellular respiration:
1. Aerobic- requires oxygen
Example: Krebs cycle: Pyruvic acid made during glycolysis is turned
into ATP
2. Anaerobic- doesn’t require oxygen
Example: fermentation- lactic acid fermentation happens in the
muscles of your body
Glycolysis is the process where glucose is broken down into ATP
NADH is a molecule that assists with electron transport
Source: http://biology.about.com