Chapter Eight Flashcards
What is metabolism?
it is the sum total of all chemical reactions occurring in a biological system at any given time, their reactions involve energy changes
What are the two types of metabolism?
Catabolism - involves catabolic reactions - complexity decreases (generates disorder = more entropy) i.e complex molecules give free energy and become small molecules
Anabolism - involves anabolic reactions - complexity increases (generates order) i.e free energy is combined with small molecules to make complex molecules
What is energy?
it is the ability to do work (the capacity for change)
What are the forms of energy?
- Chemical energy
- Heat energy
- Electrical energy
- Light energy
- Mechanical
What is chemical energy?
potential energy, stored in chemical bonds, usually covalent bonds - released during hydrolysis
What is electrical energy?
kinetic energy, or (potential energy when it involves an electrochemical gradient i.e separation of charges), one example is how electrical gradients help drive movement of ions.
What is heat energy?
kinetic energy, an energy transfer due to temperature difference, can be released by chemical reactions. usually unusable energy
What is light energy?
both kinetic and potential energy and is electromagnetic radiation stored as photons, example is light energy being captured by plant pigments in photosynthesis.
what is mechanical energy
kinetic energy that is the energy of motion, an example would be muscle movements
What are the two types of energy?
- Potential energy - stored energy (chemical bonds, concentration gradient, or an imbalance in charges)
- Kinetic energy - energy of movement
What are the laws of thermodynamics?
in biology, they are a set of laws that help us understand how cells harvest and transform energy to sustain life
they apply to all matter and all energy transformations in the universe
What is the first law of thermodynamics?
energy is neither created or destroyed - when energy is converted from one form to another the total energy (delta H) remains the same
What is the second law of thermodynamics?
when energy is converted from one form to another, some of that energy becomes unavailable to do work i.e no energy transformation is 100% efficient, some energy is lost to disorder (entropy)
What is entropy?
is the measure of disorder in a system, disorder is the amount of states a system can have unit is (S)
more entropy = more unusable energy
energy must be applied to a system to keep the entropy in check
What is enthalpy?
is the sum of all free energy plus the unusable energy in a biological system unit is (H)
H (enthalpy) = T (absolute temperature) x S (entropy) + G (free energy)
What is free energy?
it is the usable energy that can do work unit is (G)
How is a change in energy measured?
it is measured in calories or joules, delta symbol (triangle) means (a change in)
formula for change in free energy goes as follows:
∆ G = ∆H - T∆S
What does a -∆G mean?
when the change in energy is negative, energy is released
What does +∆G mean?
when the change in energy is positive, energy is required