Into to Metabolism Flashcards
Metabolism
the totality of an organism’s chemical reactions
Metabolic pathway
using a specific molecule that is altered in a series of defined steps that resutls in a certain product
Catabolic pathway
breakdown pathway; breaking down complex molecules to simpler compounds
anabolic pathways
consume energy to build complicated molecules form simpler ones; aka biosynthetic pathways
energy
the capacity to cause changet
thermal energy
the kinetic energy associated witht he random movement of atoms or molecules
kinetic energy
energy associated with the relative motion of objects
potential energy
energy that is not kinetic
chemical energy
the potential energy available for release in a chemical reaction
First law of Thermodynamics
energy can be transferred and transformed but it cannot be created or destroyed; conservation of energy
Second law of Thermodynamics
Energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe
Entropy
the measure of disorder or randomness
Spontaneous process
processes that can proceed without requiring an input of energy
Free energy
the portion of a system’s energy that can perform work when the temperature and pressure are uniform throuht the system
Gibbs Free Energy Equation
delta G= deltaH - TdeltaS
Dela S= change in the systems entropy
T is temps
Exergonic Reaction
Energy outward; occur spontaneously; net release of free energy
Endergonic reaction
absorbs free energy from its surroundings; breaking bonds requires energy
Chemical work
the pushing of endergonic reactions that would not occur spontaneously
Transport Work
the pumping of substances across membranes against the direction of spontaneous movement
Mechanical work
movement of parts; ie moving of chromosomes during cellular reproduciton
Energy coupling
the use of exergonic process to drive an endergonic process
ATP
adenosine triphosphate: a sugar ribose, nitrogenous base adenine, and chain of three phosphate groups
Allosteric regulation
regulatory molecules bind to a specific regulatory site, affecting the shape and funding of the enzyme
Feedback inhibition
the end product of a metabolic pathway allosterically inhibits the enzyme for a pervious step in the pathway
