Meaning & History. Derived from the name of the Jordan river in Israel, which is derived from yarad meaning descend or flow down.eaning & History. Derived from the name of the Jordan river in Israel, which is derived from yarad meaning descend or flow down.
First, the glucose is broken down. Scientists refer to this step as glycolysis. Then, the second process, aerobic respiration breaks the remains of the glucose down further. During aerobic respiration, oxygen is reduced, donating an electron to hydrogen to form water. The entire process of cellular respiration oxidizes glucose.
The theoretical maximum yield of cellular respiration is 36 ATP per molecule of glucose metabolized. ** Note that photosynthesis is a reduction-oxidation reaction, just like respiration (see the primer on redox reactions from the lecture on Microbes). In respiration energy is released from sugars when electrons associated with hydrogen are transported to oxygen (the electron acceptor), and water is formed as a byproduct.