Chemistry
Fermentation products contain chemical energy (they are not fully oxidized), but are considered waste products, since they cannot be metabolized further without the use of oxygen.
The chemical equation below shows the alcoholic fermentation of glucose, whose chemical formula is C6H12O6. One glucose molecule is converted into two ethanol molecules and two carbon dioxide molecules:
-
- C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2
C2H5OH is the chemical formula for ethanol.
Before fermentation takes place, one glucose molecule is broken down into two pyruvate molecules. This is known as glycolysis.
Read more about this topic: Fermentation (biochemistry)
Famous quotes containing the word chemistry:
“The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes and stenches.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“...some sort of false logic has crept into our schools, for the people whom I have seen doing housework or cooking know nothing of botany or chemistry, and the people who know botany and chemistry do not cook or sweep. The conclusion seems to be, if one knows chemistry she must not cook or do housework.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“If thought makes free, so does the moral sentiment. The mixtures of spiritual chemistry refuse to be analyzed.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)