L5 Energy Flashcards
What is metabolism?
Metabolism comprises all chemical reactions in a cell
What two types of reactions can metabolism be divided into?
Anabolic and catabolic reactions
What are anabolic reactions? (2)
- Anabolic reactions link simple molecules together
- They are energy storing reactions; they require energy
What are examples of anabolic reactions (3)
- DNA replication
- protein synthesis
- making of starch
What are catabolic reactions (2)
- They break down complex molecules into simpler ones
- They release energy
What is an example of a catabolic reaction?
digestion of food
What is the def of energy?
energy is defined as the potential capacity to do work w
What drives energy conversions?
The tendency of energy to become evenly distributed or dispersed over time (2nd law of thermodynamics)
What is the first law of thermodynamics?
Energy is neither created nor destroyed
What is the second law of thermodynamics
Energy spontaneously disperses from being localized to becoming spread out if it is not hindered from doing so
→ energy moves from high energy area to low energy area
What are examples of the second law of thermodynamics? (3)
- a hot cup of coffee will cool down, but never warm up on its own
- a balloon will lose air, but never gain it on its own
- a swimmer can dive into the water but is never thrown out of the water by concerted movement of water molecules
What happens to entropy (disorder) as energy follows the second law of thermodynamics?
Disorder increases
What is ΔG
Free energy
How can cells release free energy? (2)
- with a chemical reaction creating disorder (entropy aka ΔS)
- with a chemical reaction releasing heat (enthalpy aka ΔH)
What is the equation that expresses the change in free energy
ΔG = ΔH - TΔS
What does it mean when ΔG is negative?
- Energy is released/dispersed
- The reaction is favorable, it can happen spontaneously
What does it mean when ΔG is positive?
Energy is required for the reaction to happen
REACTION 1:
Heat is released (neg ΔH) and disorder increases (pos TΔS)
What does this mean for free energy?
- This reaction is always spontaneous (exergonic) because ΔG is always negative
- (-)ΔH - TΔS = (-)ΔG
REACTION 2:
Heat is released (neg ΔH) and disorder decreases (neg TΔS)
What does this mean for free energy?
- ΔG is only negative under a certain temperature, so the rx is only spontaneous under that T
- (-)ΔH - (-)TΔS = -ΔH +TΔS
- An example of this reaction is in protein folding: this process can only occur below a certain temperature
REACTION 3:
Heat is used (pos ΔH) and disorder increases (pos TΔS)
What does this mean for free energy?
- (+)ΔH - (-)TΔS
- The reaction is spontaneous above a certain temperature
- An example of this is dissolving NaCl in water
REACTION 4:
Heat is used (pos ΔH) and disorder decreases (neg TΔS)
What does this mean for free energy?
- never spontaneous (endergonic)
- (+)ΔH - (-)TΔS = (+) ΔG
- this applies to most anabolic reactions
How can anabolic reactions occur? (reactions with a positive ΔG
They can ONLY occur when they are coupled to a exergonic reaction to make the overall ΔG negative
What happens when you increase the amount of reactants in a reversible reaction?
You speed up the forward reaction