Module 6 Flashcards
Phototroph
Organisms that capture energy from sunlight ex. plants.
Autotroph
An organism that is able to synthesize its own food using energy from sunlight or inorganic chemicals (a primary producer) ex. plants.
Metabolism
The chemical reactions occurring within cells that convert one molecule into another and transfer energy in living organisms (the set of chemical reactions that sustain life).
Anabolic/Anabolism
The set of chemical reactions that build molecules from smaller units and require an input of energy, usually in the form of ATP.
Kinetic Energy
The energy of motion.
ATP
Provides energy to do work.
Chemical Equilibrium
The rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction and the concentrations of the reactants and products do not change.
Exergonic
Reactions with a negative ΔG that release energy and proceed spontaneously.
Enthalpy (H)
The total amount of energy.
Enzymes
A protein that functions as a catalyst to accelerate the rate of a chemical reaction.
Reactants
The starting substances of a chemical reaction.
Substrate
The reactant for enzymes.
Enzyme Inhibitors
A compound that decreases the activity of an enzyme.
Allosteric Enzyme
An enzyme whose activity is affected by binding a molecule at a site other than the active site, change their shape on binding an activator or inhibitor.
Chemotroph
Organisms that derive their energy directly from chemical compounds ex. animals.
Heterotroph
An organism that obtains its carbon from organic molecules synthesized by other organisms ex. animals.
Catabolic/Catabolism
The set of chemical reactions that break down molecules into smaller units and, in the process, produce ATP.
Potential Energy
Stored energy that is released by a change in an object’s structure or position.
Chemical Energy
A form of potential energy held in the chemical bonds between pairs of atoms in a molecule.
Chemical Reaction
When reactants are transformed into products.
Gibbs Free Energy (G)
The amount of energy available to do work.
Endergonic
Reactions with a positive ΔG that require an input of energy and are not spontaneous.
Energetic Coupling
A process in which a spontaneous reaction (-ΔG) drives a nonspontaneous reaction (+ΔG). It requires that the net ΔG of the two reactions be negative.
Activation Energy (EA)
The energy input necessary to reach the transition state.
Products
The substances at the end of a chemical reaction.
Enzyme Active Site
The portion of an enzyme that binds substrate and converts it to product.
Enzyme Activators
A compound that increases the activity of an enzyme.
First Law of Thermodynamics
Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it can only be transformed from one form into another.
Second Law of Thermodynamics
The principle that the transformation of energy is associated with an increase in the degree of disorder in the universe.
Energy
A property of objects that makes work possible.
ADP
Adenosine diphosphate.
AMP
Adenosine monophosphate.
Entropy (S)
The degree of disorder in a system.
Thermal Energy
A type of kinetic energy corresponding to the motion of molecules and results in a given temperature.
Forward Reaction
Proceeds from left to right and the reactants are located on the left side of the arrow.
Reverse Reaction
Proceeds from right to left and the reactants are located on the right side of the arrow.
Catalysts
Are substances that increase the rate of chemical reactions without themselves being consumed.
Transition State
The brief time in a chemical reaction in which chemical bonds in the reactants are broken and new bonds in the product are formed. Is highly unstable and therefore has a large amount of free energy.
Cofactors
A nonprotein chemical compound that is required for the activity of an enzyme. Can be inorganic or organic.
Competitive Inhibitor
Competes with the substrate for the active site of the enzyme.
Noncompetitive Inhibitor
Change the shape and therefore the activity of the enzyme but do not change the shape of the active site or the ability of the enzyme to bind substrate.
Negative Feedback
A process in which the output or product of a pathway opposes the initial stimulus so that steady conditions are maintained.
