Chapter 6 Flashcards
energy
- allows biological work
- fundamental to all biological processes
- energy can be used to…do work and supply heat
potential energy
- due to structure or position
- energy that is not being used at a given moment but there is potential of it being used
Chemical Bonds: Potential energy
- stored in the arrangement of the atoms bonded together to form a molecule
- can be “harnessed” during chemical reactions
- critical for understanding metabolism
- bonds between two molecules within an atom are a form of PE
- net energy is stored in how bonds are arranged
energy transformers
- organisms
- converting one type of energy into another type
- ex: cellular respiration
- PE stored in glucose released and used for chemical work
Organisms are energy transformers..
- all energy came from light (sun) and was “fixed” into an organic molecule by a plant
- energy that comes in from the sun is being fixed by plants into organic molecules
first law of thermodynamics
- energy cannot be created or destroyed
- only transformed (not making new energy, energy is not going away, we just convert into different forms)
- conservation of energy
- this is the heart of metabolism
- energy is transformed by chemical reactions
Spontaneous Chemical Reaction
- without input of free energy; proceed on their own
- does not mean “speed”
- ex: sucrose -> CO2 and water
Nonspontaneous Chemical reaction
-requires free energy
Reactions are spontaneous if…
- Products have lower potential energy than reactants
ex: methane reacts with oxygen - Product molecules are less ordered than reactants
- entropy- amount of disorder
enthalpy
difference in potential energy (delta H)
exothermic
releases heat (- delta H)
endothermic
absorbs heat (+ delta H)
entropy
amount of disorder (delta S)
Second Law of Thermodynamics
-the amount of disorder, or entropy (delta S), increases in an isolated system over time
Chemical processes favor…
- direction w/ lower PE
- increased disorder
- ex: glucose oxidation: Reactants: high PE, ordered. Products: low PE, disordered
- for reaction to occur spon, the system must either give up enthalpy (-delta H) or increase entropy (+delta S) or both
H=G+TS
- total energy- usable energy +unusable energy
- H= enthalpy or total energy
- G= free energy/usable energy
- S= entropy or unusable energy
- T = absolute temperature in Kelvin (K)
Gibbs Free Energy (G) & Spontaneity
-to determine if reaction is spon, we can look at change in entropy (delta S) and change in enthalpy (potential energy, delta H)
(delta G= delta H -T delta S)
Exergonic reaction
- delta G less than O or negative free energy change
- spontaneous
Endergonic reaction
- delta G greater then 0 or positive free energy change
- requires addition of free energy
- not spontaneous
Free energy & Equilibrium
- for a reaction at equilibrium, delta G=0
- Reactants Products
- if a cell is in equilibrium, no work is being done
- the cell is DEAD
- life is a process of dis-equilibrium: it requires a constant inout and processing of energy
How do we used free energy to do work?
- ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
- ribonucleotide (ribose + adenine)
- 3 phosphate group
ATP: energy molecule
- ATP can release this energy when needed for some activity
- muscle activity, active transport
- 3rd phosphate bond is a high-energy bond