In: Biology
what is cellular respiration, fermentation, facultative anaerobes, pH. and what is the connection between them?
Cellular respiration is the metabolic process which involves the conversion of oxygen into chemical energy in the form of ATP. It involves oxidisation of food.
Fermentation involves the chemical breakdown of organic substrates by the action of microorganisms in the absence of oxygen.
Facultative anaerobes are the organisms which can live in the presence of oxygen, but are also not limited in its absence. It means it can make ATP by aerobic respiration in oxygen's presence but can also switch to fermentation in the absence of oxygen.
pH is defined as the negative logarithmic of hydrogen ions. When fermentation takes place, ethanol or lactic acid is formed due to which pH decreases.
So, the relation between them is that facultative anaerobes can switch between aerobic respiration (one type of cellular respiration) and fermentation depending on the availability of oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, fermentation leads to lowering of the pH.
Hope it helps, Good luck
Please do press like :)