A minimal catalytic cycle for cytochrome c oxidase has been suggested, and the steady-state kinetic equation for this mechanism has been derived. This equation has been used to simulate experimental data for the pH dependence of the steady-state kinetic parameters, kcat and Km. In the simulations the rate constants for binding and dissociation of cytochrome c and for two internal electron-transfer steps have been allowed to vary, whereas fixed experimental values (for pH 7.4) have been used for the other rate constants. The results show that the dissociation of the product, ferricytochrome c, cannot be rate-limiting under all conditions, but that intramolecular electron-transfer steps also limit the rate. They also demonstrate that Km can differ considerably from the dissociation constant for the cytochrome c-oxidase complex. Published values for the rate constant for the dissociation of ferricytochrome c are too small to account for the steady-state rates. It is suggested that, at high concentrations, ferryocytochrome c transfers an electron to a cytochrome c molecule which remains bound to the oxidase. This can also explain the nonhyperbolic kinetics, which is observed at low substrate concentrations.