ATP can be produced by redox reactions using simple and complex sugars (carbohydrates) or lipids as an energy source.

For complex fuels to be synthesized into ATP, they first need to be broken down into smaller, more simple molecules. Carbohydrates are hydrolysed into simple sugars, such as glucoseand fructose. Fats (triglycerides) are metabolised to give fatty acids and glycerol. The overall process of oxidizing glucose to carbon dioxide is known as cellular respiration and can produce about [23] 30 molecules of ATP from a single molecule of glucose. ATP can be produced by a number of distinct cellular processes; the three main pathways used to generate energy in eukaryotic organisms are glycolysis and the citric acid cycle/oxidative phosphorylation, both components of cellular respiration; and beta-oxidation. The majority of this ATP production by a non-photosynthetic aerobic eukaryote takes place in the mitochondria, which can make up nearly 25% of the total volume of a typical cell.

How ATP is formed in a cell?

In eukaryotic cells, in the cytoplasm and in the mitochondria. A small amount (2 ATP molecules per molecule of glucose) is formed in the cytoplasm. The process is called glycolysis, and does not require oxygen. If oxygen is available, pyruvate formed during glycolysis enters the mitochondria and is there oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. The yield of ATP varies, but is probably a little below 30 molecules of ATP per glucose molecule.

ATP is formed during a specific stage of photosynthesis when a certain phosphate group is added to ADP. This process is called photophosphorylasion.
ATP is formed by molecule, there is an energy carrying molecule called Triphosphate and there are three Phosphate molecule. These molecule joined together by covalent bonds, and create a new energy which is used to add inorganic phosphate to adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

ATP is created by the breakdown of glucose starting with Glycolysis and ending at the Electron Transport Chain (where MOST of the ATP is generated). A single molecule of glucose can produce 38 ATP, though some of it is spent in the process (net yield around 32-34 ATP). The energy from ATP is housed in the unstable phosphate bonds. The more phosphates bound to the molecule, the more unstable it is. That's why ADP is more stable than ATP, and AMP is most stable of all. The formation of ATP takes a Phosphate from an intermediate and adds it to ADP (creating ATP). This may be done using enzymes, called substrate-level phosphorylation, or it may be done by creating a H+ gradiant and moving the ions through to power an enzyme that adds the phosphate- called oxidative phosphorylation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substrate-l Substrate-level http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_p Oxidative The release of the phosphate on ATP making it ADP releases an amount of energy that can do work wherever it's needed. It may help catalyze a reaction, move molecules, or create other molecules. In muscle contraction, for example, ATP is needed to release the filaments of a sarcomere so it can shorten thus producing a contraction.