Final answer:
After complete oxidation of 6 glucose molecules, a plant cell generates 216 ATP molecules (12 from glycolysis and 204 from oxidative phosphorylation). The number of water molecules is equal to the ATPs produced during oxidative phosphorylation.
Step-by-step explanation:
If ATP synthase requires 4h (protons) to phosphorylate one ADP into one molecule of ATP, we can calculate the amount of ATP generated after completely oxidizing 6 molecules of glucose in a plant cell.
The complete oxidation of one glucose molecule via aerobic respiration consists of several stages: glycolysis, the transition reaction, the Krebs cycle, and the electron transport chain coupled with oxidative phosphorylation.
Glycolysis generates a net gain of 2 ATP molecules per glucose, and two molecules of NADH, which donate their electrons to the electron transport chain, yielding additional ATPs during oxidative phosphorylation.
From the transition reaction and the Krebs cycle, each molecule of glucose results in 10 molecules of NADH and 2 molecules of FADH2. NADH will produce 3 ATPs per molecule, and FADH2 will produce 2 ATPs per molecule during oxidative phosphorylation.
Altogether, the total theoretical maximum yield of ATP from the complete aerobic respiration of one glucose molecule is 38 ATPs, with a practical range from 30 to 34 ATPs due to energy loss during transport into mitochondria.
Upon oxidation of 6 glucose molecules, the following amounts of ATP and water would be generated:
From NADH: 180 ATP (10 NADH per glucose molecule × 3 ATP per NADH × 6 glucose molecules)
From FADH2: 24 ATP (2 FADH2 per glucose molecule × 2 ATP per FADH2 × 6 glucose molecules)
To calculate the exact number of water molecules, note that every ATP synthesis is coupled with the production of one molecule of water. Therefore, the total water molecules produced would be equal to the total ATP molecules synthesized during oxidative phosphorylation.