Chemiosmosis is the movement of ions, like protons, across a membrane down their electrochemical gradient. During mitochondrial cellular respiration, the electron transport chain establishes a proton gradient by pumping hydrogen ions into the intermembrane space. This electrochemical gradient is then utilized by ATP synthase, a complex embedded within the inner membrane to generate ATP— a process called chemiosmosis. The ATP synthase complex has a stator, a channel that enables ions to enter a membrane-embedded rotor. The rotor begins to turn, and once it completes a 360° full rotation, the protons dissociate one by one and exit back into the matrix through another stator channel. The spinning rotor further turns the central stalk bringing conformational changes in the globular head. The globular head subunits then catalyze the conversion of ADP and inorganic phosphate into ATP. Overall, oxidative phosphorylation, which includes the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis, produces 32 to 34 ATP molecules from one glucose molecule, making it the major energy-contributing stage of cellular respiration.