The biomass formula for a yeast is CH1.66 00.269 N0.194. The formula accounts for 92% of dry mass; the other 8% is inorganic material (ash). When grown on C6H14, the yield on biomass is 1.4 gcell/gsubstrate. What is the respiratory quotient (mole CO2 produce/mole O2 consumed)?
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Can someone explain the biomass formula? What are the units? Is that a ratio?
thanks!
The biomass formula that you mentioned, CH1.66 00.269 N0.194, represents the elemental composition of yeast biomass. It tells us the relative proportions of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and nitrogen (N) in the biomass.
The numbers that follow each element (1.66 for C, 00.269 for H, and 0.194 for N) represent the molar ratio of each element to carbon in the biomass. So, for every mole of carbon in the biomass, there would be 1.66 moles of hydrogen and 0.194 moles of nitrogen.
These ratios are used to calculate the actual number of moles of each element in the biomass when the amount of carbon is known. The units for these ratios are moles of element per mole of carbon.
Now, let's move on to the yield on biomass. The yield on biomass is a measure of how much biomass is formed per unit of substrate consumed. In this case, the yield is given as 1.4 gcell/gsubstrate, which means for every gram of substrate consumed, 1.4 grams of biomass (yeast cells) is formed.
Finally, to calculate the respiratory quotient (RQ), you need to know the mole ratio of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced to oxygen (O2) consumed during the respiration process. This ratio depends on the types of metabolic reactions happening in the yeast cells.
To calculate the RQ, divide the moles of CO2 produced by the moles of O2 consumed. This will give you the ratio of the two gases.
To obtain the values needed to calculate the RQ, you might need additional information about the metabolism of the yeast or data from experimental measurements.