Energy And ATP Flashcards
What do plants photosynthesise to form?
Complex organic molecules.
What do plants and animals do with complex organic molecules?
Oxidise them to form adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
What is ATP?
A main energy source to carry out processes within cells.
What is an ATP molecule?
A phosphorylated macromolecule.
What are the 3 parts to an ATP molecule?
Adenine, ribose and phosphates.
How many phosphates does ATP have?
3
What are the bonds between phosphate groups like?
Unstable.
What do the unstable bonds between phosphate groups mean?
They have a low activation energy and are easily broken.
What happens when the bonds between phosphate groups break?
They release a lot of energy.
What reaction is the conversion of ATP to ADP and why?
Hydrolysis reaction, water is added.
What does ATP stand for?
Adenosine triphosphate.
What is ATP catalysed by to form ADP?
ATP hydrolase.
What does ADP stand for?
Adenosine diphosphate.
What does AMP stand for?
Adenosine monophosphate.
How can we re-form ATP from ADP?
By using energy to add an inorganic phosphate.
What is the synthesis of ATP from ADP catalysed by?
ATP synthase.
What reaction is the synthesis of ATP from ADP and why?
Condensation reaction, water is removed.
When does the synthesis of ATP occur?
During photosynthesis, respiration, and in plant and animal cells when phosphate groups are transferred from donor molecules to ADP.
Why is ATP a good energy donor?
Its phosphate bonds can be instantly broken (hydrolysed).
What bad feature does ATP have?
It’s not a good long-term energy store.
What molecules have long term energy stores?
Carbohydrates and fats such as glycogen.
What kind of energy source is ATP ?
An immediate energy source.
What do cells not do as a result of ATPs immediate energy source?
Don’t store large quantities of ATP and instead maintain a few seconds’ supply.
Why is maintaining just a few seconds supply of ATP not a problem?
As ATP is rapidly re-formed from ADP and inorganic phosphate, so a little goes a long way.
Why is ATP a better energy source than glucose?
Energy is released in smaller, manageable quantities, and the hydrolysis of ATD to ADP is a single reaction that releases immediate energy whereas glucose breakdown is a long series of reactions that takes longer to release energy.
What can’t happen to ATP?
It can’t be stored.
What does it mean if ATP can’t be stored?
It has to be continuously made within the mitochondria of cells that need it.
What kind of cells process many mitochondria?
Ones which require a lot of energy for movement and active transport.
What cells have a lot of mitochondria.
Muscle fibres and epithelial cells.
What energy-requiring processes in cells is ATP used for?
Metabolic processes, movement, active transport, secretion, and activation of molecules.
Why is ATP used in metabolic processes?
It provides energy needed to build up macromolecules from their basic units, such as making polypeptides from amino acids.
What is a macromolecule?
A molecule containing a very large number of atoms, such as a protein.
Why is ATP used for movement?
It provides energy for filaments of muscle to slide past one another in muscle contraction.
Why is ATP used in active transport?
It provides the energy to change the shape of carrier proteins in plasma membranes which allows molecules to be moved against the concentration gradient.
Why is ATP used in secretion?
It’s needed to form the lysosomes necessary for the secretion of all cell products.
Why is ATP used in the activation of molecules?
It’s inorganic phosphate released during hydrolysis can be used to phosphorylate other compounds to make them more reactive and lower the activation energy.
