Commonly confused

ETC inhibitors vs Uncouplers

The tell

Inhibitors (rotenone, antimycin A, cyanide, and oligomycin at ATP synthase) halt the machinery, so O₂ consumption falls. Uncouplers (2,4-DNP, thermogenin) collapse the gradient, so O₂ consumption rises and the energy leaves as heat while no ATP is made.

Pairs like this are where exam points go missing, the concepts are fine, the labels swap. Retrieval fixes it faster than rereading: the daily quiz mixes confusable pairs into every set.

Today’s daily quiz All confusable pairs