yeah, there are so many steps to generating atp and it is a bit complex. i like the inner critic b/c it seems useful in helping a person be the best that they can be without being a perfectionist in society. i like your term the “inner bully” and the way you distract yourself when it comes up. i like being part of tinybuddha.com and writing my thoughts b/c by expressing my emotions, i can see the inner bully as what it really is and gain comfort that i have the power to stop its progress. my inner bully just told me i had no talents and i proved it wrong b/c i just wrote a poem. here is the poem about you:

Candle in the Wind

She is the sunlight passing through prisms casting rainbows upon the world

She is the candle of hope that flickers in the darkness

All the light at full brightness

All the wavelength of her beauty and compassion dispersed

Anita is the candle in the wind

Her light allows others to be guided when their ships are at rough seas

She helps to rekindle the flame within hearts alighting them with hope

Anita is the north star steadfastly casting her light in the night sky, a light for others to follow

She reassures my doubts away with her unwavering light

T%here is divine music in her light as she helps me realize my true worth

When the wind blows the map of life away and I feel stranded on the road of life, the candle within Anita helps me back on my path

She lights the way and helps me believe in myself when the wind tugs in many directions

Anita is a candle in the wind

May her light continue to shine at full brightness lighting up the darkness of the world.

thanks a lot for your kind words, i feel that no words can express the gratitude that i feel to have you as a guide in my life. i like your saying that “the inner bully doesn’t know you”, it reminds me a quote by audrey hepburn when she said “i don’t care what they say about me as long as it’s not true.’ i agree with this quote b/c most of the time a lot of the negative comments we get from people aren’t true and you are the one living your life. after i wrote the poem and refused to listen to the inner bully which has begun to tell me “your creative poetic talent won’t help you in ap biology. you don’t have the intelligence for that class” because i am currently enjoying learning about atp production through cellular respiration and atp hydrolysis. i am learning lots and although i am still working on synthesizing the sources well and applying them to my life, i have more knowledge of how cells work. it is a lot of information to process and work on paraphrasing, but i’m working on it. i hope that i managed to detail atp’s forms, components, source and mechanism of action (including the action of kinase enzymes) well, if you don’t mind can you proofread my work when i’m done?

thanks a lot anita for your help:) i agree about teaching a child with kindness instead of yelling at them. i read in ap psychology book that my ap world history teacher lent me this year and it said that authoritative parents are the best, they set limits for their child, but they also allow the child to have freedom, they don’t criticize the child too harshly, but they are assertive in their parenting. demanding parents and passive parents aren’t very good b/c demanding parents diminish their child’s self-esteem while passive parents tend to spoil their children.

as much as i would like to learn as much as i can about paying bills, taxforms, house and car and financial things as well as home improvement, i wish my parents din’t have such a negative attitude toward those subjects. it would be easier to learn if my parents weren’t complaining and arguing about how the world is harsh on them and their financial things. sometimes when i try to learn them, there complaints get in the way and it spoils the learning for me. they seem to only see the bad habits within the financial world and i’m not like that and i don’t want to be that way. i want to learn how to be self-sufficient, but sometimes it can be hard to learn things b/c their complaining makes me feel insecure about myself.

thanks anita for your helps and understanding;) i am currently working on trying to add this sentence into my explanation on atp’s form, components, structure and mechanism (including the kinase enzymes) kinase enzymes are enzymes that transfer phosphate molecules from one substance to another. should i also include photosynthesis’s production of atp as well? do you think i accurately demonstrate an understanding of atp and my content and sentences make sense? this essay is out of 40 points and it is due in 10 days, can you give me a grade you think it would receive? i think i might receive a 30/40.

“Substrate level phosphorylation occurs when a kinase enzyme transfers a phosphate group from a substance to ADP producing ATP during glycolysis and the Krebs cycle.”

here is the work so far:

The ATP molecule consists of a sugar molecule (ribose) attached to a base that is composed of carbon and nitrogen atoms (adenine). Attached to the other side of the ribose are three phosphate groups (a phosphate group consists of one phosphorus atom bonded to 4 oxygen atoms). * also includes image
*Information for ATP structure from http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/atp/atp1.htm

ATP Hydrolysis Powers Cellular Work

The phosphate bonds in ATP (adenosine triphosphate) can be broken down by water. When ATP loses a phosphate group in water, this releases energy and creates the products ADP (adenosine diphosphate with two phosphate groups) and an inorganic phosphate. This is an exergonic reaction meaning energy is released and the reactants (ATP + Water) have a higher energy than the products. The hydrolysis (breakdown in water) of ATP releases energy because all three phosphate groups are negatively charged and the like charges repel each other creating an instability in the ATP molecule.
The energy released from ATP hydrolysis can be used to power endergonic reactions (absorb energy to start reaction) by the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to some other molecule such as the reactant in the reaction. ATP hydrolysis powers cellular work since ATP hydrolysis leads to a change in a protein’s shape and its ability to bind to another molecule. When ATP is bonded noncovalently to a motor protein, the ATP hydrolysis releases ADP and an inorganic phosphate allowing another ATP molecule to bond. At each step, the motor protein changes shape and its ability to bind to the cytoskeleton (framework of the cell) resulting in the protein’s movement along the cytoskeletal track. From the exergonic breakdown of ATP, the energy released can be used to power the endergonic reaction of regenerating ATP when a phosphate is added to ADP. The ATP cycle results in the exergonic reaction of breaking apart ATP and using the energy released to power the endergonic reaction of regenerating ATP.

ATP in Cellular Respiration
Cellular respiration is a metabolic reaction that takes place in cells to convert energy from nutrients (such as food) into ATP and release waste products. Aerobic Respiration requires oxygen to produce ATP. During cellular respiration shown in the equation here: C6H12O6+ 6O2 ——> CO2 + H2O, glucose (C6H12O6) is oxidized (loses electrons) to oxygen, while oxygen is reduced (gains electrons) and the products carbon dioxide (CO2) and H2O (water) are released. The first step of cellular respiration, glycolysis which is the splitting of glucose sugar can occur with or without oxygen. The first half of glycolysis is endergonic since it requires energy in the form of two ATP molecules, while the second half is exergonic since four ATP molecules are produced (energy is released. In glycolysis, a hexokinase enzyme transfers a phosphate group to ATP making it more reactive; this process uses 1 ATP molecule and produces Glucose 6-phosphate. During metabolism, glucose 6-phosphate is converted to Fructose 6-phosphate. Another ATP molecule is used when phosphofructokinase enzyme transfers a phosphate group to fructose 6-phosphate making it Fructose 1,6 biphosphate. Fructose 1,6 biphosphate splits into two different three-carbon sugars which later breaks down into pyruvate. Although glycolysis produces 4 ATP molecules in the second half of its reaction (breakdown of Fructose 1,6 biphosphate to 2 pyruvate molecules), it only produces a net of 2 ATP molecules since 2 were used to start the glycolysis process. The end products of glycolysis are 2 pyruvate molecules, 2 ATP molecules and 1 NADH.

If oxygen is present pyruvate enters the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells and is converted to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl coA); this releases one molecule of CO2 and NAD (coenzyme in living cells that functions as an electron acceptor). When oxygen is not present, fermentation of the pyruvic molecule will occur. When oxygen is present acetyl coA enters into the Krebs/ Citric Acid Cycle inside the mitochondrial matrix and is oxidized to CO2 while reducing NAD to NADH. With each turn of the Krebs cycle, a pyruvate is used and one turn of the cycle produces 3NADHs, 1 ATP, 1 FADH2 and CO2. The Krebs cycle also produces water when NADH and FADH2 shuttle electrons down the electron transport chain to oxygen, which is the last electron acceptor; while at the same time protons are being pumped from the mitochondrial matrix to the intermembrane space and oxygen is reduced to water. NADH and FADH2 can be used in the electron transport chain to create ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. During oxidative phosphorylation which takes place in the inner mitochondrial membrane, NADH and FADH2 are used to pump hydrogen ions across the membrane against proton gradients (chemiosmosis process). A protein complex, ATP synthase which is in the membrane and enables protons to pass in different directions, enables ATP production when the protons move down the gradient. It takes ATP to pump a proton against a gradient and since protons have already been pumped against the gradient (done by NADH and FADH2), they can flow back into the mitochondrial matrix producing ATP in the process.

NAD and FAD
NAD and FAD are important to cellular respiration since they are coenzymes that carry protons or electrons from glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle to the electron transport chain. FAD is the oxidized (loses electrons) form while FADH2 is the reduced (gains electrons) form. NAD+ is the oxidized form, while NADH is the reduced form.

Anaerobic Respiration (without oxygen)
Fermentation occurs without oxygen and the electron transport chain. It turns NADH and pyruvate produced in glycolysis into NAD+ and an organic molecule such as lactate in lactic acid fermentation and ethyl alcohol & CO2. Fermentation can produce ATP as long as there is an adequate supply of NAD+ to accept electrons during glycolysis. However, in the presence of oxygen (aerobic respiration), NADH and pyruvate can generate more ATP than glycolysis alone.

Sources Used:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration
https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/cellular-respiration-7/glycolysis-74/outcomes-of-glycolysis-358-11584/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate#Beta_oxidation
http://www.greenfacts.org/glossary/mno/oxidative-phosphorylation.htm
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090301222617AAmDt20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=oxygen%20in%20the%20electron%20transport%20chain
Barron’s How to Prepare for AP Biology Exam Deborah T. Goldberg
AP 9th Edition Campbell Biology Jane B. Reece, Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, and Robert B. Jackson

last night i had a great dream in which i was soaring above the clouds with the buddha holding my hand. i saw the buddha smiling and all around me was light. i began to ascend a spiral staircase and all around me were angels and i felt completely alive with purpose. i heard a voice saying “you are becoming one with the universe , you are healed and whole.” as i reached the top of the staircase, i felt the heaviness of my physical body leave and the world fade away as i felt myself explode like a supernova star shining the most divine and loving light into the universe. i began floating as a cloud and all around me the angels were singing and the buddha had such a radiant smile and everything was so beautiful and i realized that i was part of the great universe and whatever path i take would always lead to home. i also knew that whatever i was, whoever i was would always be divine and enough and i realized i could embrace the divine perfection in me that had always been there.
this morning, my inner bully was telling me that i couldn’t do this or that b/c i wasn’t good enough such as this example: “you can’t be an scientist, since you have your head in the clouds with poetry.”

i managed to do a meditation which made me transcend the inner bully whom i chose to ignore and say “so what if i wrote poetry and i am a scientist? i can do both.” anyway, i was out in the garden watering my flowers and the mosquitoes were like my inner bully and i was fighting them. anyway, i was quite entranced by the beauty of the flowers and i forgot the mosquitoes and started not to fight them and to my surprise the itchiness faded away and also the mosquitoes didn’t bother me as much. there were still some bites that itched and some mosquitoes, but not as much and i also felt my inner bully go away. i learned that fighting something only makes it worse instead you should accept it and let it go and it works:) i have written in some edits to the former ap biology assignment and have also written a three poems about the struggles of being a youth and going for your full potential. i also love how science fits into every aspect of life since i was reading about the cell’s membranes being nonpolar and only nonpolar molecules could enter excluding water and carbon dioxide which are polar and oxygen which is a diatomic molecule (exists as two atoms bonded in nature). water enters and exits the cell membrane through osmosis. anyway i was thinking of the cell membrane as the positive vibration of my aura that protected me from negative energies getting in. anyway, i also have three other poems inspired by the songs “Home” by Daughtry, “When I’m gone” by Three Doors Down, “Don’t You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia. they are on page 32 on this forum and in July 23, 2016 at 2:43 pm if you need to refer back. anyway, i also took inspiration from three other songs called “What I’ve Done” by Linkin Park, “The Pretender” by Foo Fighters and “I won’t worry my life away” by Jason Mraz. In “What I’ve done”, the singer talks about letting go of his pain and starting again on a new slate even if it means starting in uncertainty. the singer will “erase himself and let go of what i’ve done. put to rest what you thought of me.” the singer is saying he will forgive himself for his faults and wash away the pain, to “face himself and cross out what i’ve become.” the pretender talks about people being kept in the dark, in ignorance and how the singer will live his life on his own terms and not be part of the world’s plays. the singer says “what if i’m not like the others? i’m what’s left, i’m what’s right.” the singer seems to be a bit at war with the world in this stanza because the singer believes they all hide behind masks and don’t show their true selves and the singer has a confidence in himself/herself that he/she is right and he/she will help make the world right, this part is a bit vengeful in a way, but i like the idea of the singer having the courage to break the illusions in society, to rise and be himself, to show both his positives and negatives. i won’t worry my life away is about enjoying life and it doesn’t matter if things go wrong because life is meant to be lived. i especially like this stanza “When I fall in love I take my time. There’s no need to hurry when I’m making up my mind.You can turn off the sun but I’m still gonna shine and I’ll tell you why. Because the remedy is the experience.” i think this means about not rushing your life, taking your time to enjoy the decisions and living the experience of being alive even if the light seems to be far away.