Final answer:
The net yield of ATP from the complete aerobic respiration of a single glucose molecule is generally considered to be around 36 molecules. This accounts for the theoretic maximum, variation in cellular processes among organisms, and the energy costs associated with mitochondrial transport in eukaryotes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The complete aerobic respiration of a single glucose molecule spans several processes: glycolysis, the transition reaction, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain (ETC). In glycolysis, 2 ATP molecules and 2 NADH molecules are produced. Each NADH can be thought of as equivalent to 2.5 ATP (yielding 5 ATP from glycolysis NADH), and the transition reaction generates an additional 2 NADH (yielding 5 ATP), while the Krebs cycle produces 6 NADH (15 ATP) and 2 FADH2 (3 ATP), as well as 2 ATP directly.
In the ETC, NADH and FADH2 are oxidized to produce ATP; approximately 3 ATP are created for each NADH and 2 ATP for each FADH2. As such, the ETC generates 34 ATP from the NADH and FADH2 formed during the previous cycles. When combined with the 4 ATP from earlier stages, a total of up to 38 ATP can be made. However, due to the energy cost of transporting intermediates into mitochondria in eukaryotic cells, the actual number produced usually ranges from 30 to 36 ATP.
The final answer for the net ATP yield from the aerobic respiration of a single glucose molecule can be around 30 to 36 ATP. The variation accounts for different energy efficiencies in cellular processes among various organisms and the energy required for shuttling compounds into mitochondria in eukaryotic cells.
In summary, a two line explanation indicative of the broad consensus is that complete aerobic respiration of glucose yields a net of 36 ATP molecules, representing a balance between the theoretic maximum and actual observed yield in most eukaryotic cells.