ATP Flashcards
What is ATP?
an immediate source of chemical energy for biological processes
What does ATP consist of?
A nitrogenous base (adenine in ATP), a pentose sugar (ribose in ATP) and 3 inorganic phosphate groups
Why are the three inorganic phosphate groups in ATP inorganic?
They do not contain carbon
How is ATP made?
ATP is made during respiration from ADP by the addition of an inorganic phosphate via a condensation reaction and using the enzyme ATP synthase
How can ATP be hydrolysed?
By breaking (hydrolysing) one of bonds in an inorganic phosphate group, it can result in the formation of ADP + Pi by using the enzyme ATP hydrolase.
Why is ATP an immediate source of energy?
Only one of the bonds in the 3 inorganic phosphates needs to be hydrolysed which releases a small amount of energy that can be used in chemical reactions.
Through which process can ATP transfer energy to different compounds and how?
Phosporylation. The inorganic phosphate released during the hydrolysis of ATP can be bonded into different compounds to make them more reactive
What are the 5 key properties of ATP and how do they compare to glucose?
- ATP releases energy in small amounts so no energy is wasted. This means that cells do not overheat from wasted energy and do not run out of resources. Glucose releases large amounts of energy so there is more wasted energy.
- ATP is a small and soluble molecule which means it can easily be transported around the cell and provide energy. This is the same with glucose
- Only 1 bond in ATP needs to be hydrolysed to release energy which is why it is an immediate source of energy. Glucose would need several of its bonds to be broken to release energy.
- ATP can use phosphorylation to transfer energy to other molecules by transferring one of its phosphate groups. Glucose cannot do this since it does not contain any phosphate groups
- ATP cannot leave the cell but glucose can. This means that all cells have a constant supply of ATP or ADP + Pi but a cell can run out of glucose.
