Chapter 17 - Energy for Biological Processes Flashcards
Need for energy (think metabolic activities)?
- Active Transport ; uptake of nitrates by root hair cells, loading sucrose into sieve tube cells, selective reabsorption of glucose and amino acids in the kidney and the conduction of nerve impulses
- Anabolic reactions - building of polymers like proteins/polysaccharides and nucleic acids essential for growth and repair
- Movement brought about by cilia/flagella/contractile filaments in muscle cells
Energy….
CANNOT BE CREATED OR DESTROYED
Why is there an interconversion of glucose and ATP?
A glucose molecule contains more energy than the single metabolic reactions needed to break it down and thus the energy contained within a molecule of glucose is used to synthesise many molecules of ATP and it is these molecules that drive cellular reactions (enough energy provided on a cellular level)
How do organisms release energy?
As heat (low energy radiation) through respiration - exothermic process
What is the ultimate source used to fuel metabolic reactions?
Radiation from the sun - transferred back to the atmosphere as heat
Photosynthesis?
Make use of energy in the bonds of organic molecules like glucose ; light is trapped by chlorophyll molecules and this energy is used to drive the synthesis of glucose from carbon dioxide and water
Respiration
Respiration is the process by which organic molecules such as glucose are broken down into smaller inorganic molecules like CO2 and H2O - energy stored in the bonds of glucose is used to make ATP
Photosynthesis and respiration relationship
Photosynthesis is the reaction behind the production of most of the biomass on the earth and respiration is the process by which organisms break down biomass to provide the ATP needed to drive the metabolic reactions that take place in cells
Photosynthesis
6CO2 + 6H20 -> C6H12O6 + 602
Respiration
C6H12O6 + 6O2 -> 6CO2 + 6H2O
Breaking bonds
Requires energy
Forming bonds
Releases energy
Bond energy
Energy required to break/form 1 mol of a bond
How to decide whether a reaction is exo/endothermic?
Depends on the total number and strength of bonds that are formed/broken during the reaction
Inorganic molecules vs organic molecules bond strength?
Water and CO2 release a lot of energy when they break and also require a lot of energy to break
Organic molecules like glucose and amino acids contain many more bonds but these are far weaker and thus release less energy and require less energy to be broken
Respiration
Large organic molecules are broken down forming small inorganic ones - total energy required to break the bonds in a complex organic molecule is less than the energy released in the formation of all the bonds in the smaller inorganic products and thus the excess energy released is used to synthesise ATP
Respiration
EXOTHERMIC
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
ENDOTHERMIC
What happens in respiration?
Organic molecules have a lot of C-H bonds which are non-polar and do not require a lot of energy to break. The carbon and hydrogen released is then used to form strong bonds with oxygen atoms, forming CO2 and water - resulting in the release of large quantities of energy
Photosynthesis
More energy is put in when breaking bonds than is released when bonds form
Photosynthesis chain of reaction?
Light provides energy to form chemical bonds in ATP - ATP bonds broken to release the energy needed to make glucose
Respiration chain of reaction?
Organic molecules like glucose are broken down and energy released is used to synthesise ATP - ATP is then used to supply the energy needed to break bonds in the metabolic reactions of the cell
Chemiosmosis
ATP produced in both photosynthesis and respiration is synthesised by chemiosmosis - involves diffusion of protons from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration through a partially permeable membrane
What does movement of protons do?
Releases energy that is used to attach inorganic phosphate to ADP - to make ATP
Chemiosmosis depends on the creation of a proton concentration gradient - energy to do thus comes from high-energy electrons
What are two ways in how electrons are excited?
Electrons in chlorophyll are excited by absorbing light from the sun
High energy electrons are released when chemical bonds are broken in respiratory substrate molecules like glucose
How do excited electrons generate a proton gradient?
By passing into an electron transport chain
Electron transport chain
Made up of a series of electron carriers - each with a lower energy level - as high energy electrons move from one carrier to another, energy is released and used to pump protons across a membrane creating the gradient
Why is the proton gradient maintained?
Because the membrane is impermeable to hydrogen ions
So how can protons move back through the membrane?
Through hydrophilic membrane channels linked to the enzyme ATP synthase which catalyses their formation of ATP - flow of protons provides the energy used to synthesise ATP from ADP and pi
Purpose of Chemiosmosis?
Transfer energy into a usable form - ATP - whether it’s for synthesising glucose (photosynthesis) or in respiration (metabolic processes)