Module 8 - Cellular Energy Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is energy?
The ability to do work
What are thermodynamics?
The study of the flow and transformation of energy in the universe
What is the first law of thermodynamics?
The law of conservation of energy - energy cannot be created or destroyed, only converted from one form to another.
What is the second law of thermodynamics?
Energy cannot be converted without the loss of usable energy. Increase in entropy.
What is entropy?
The measure of disorder, or unusable energy, in a system.
What is metabolism?
All of the chemical reactions in a cell
What is a metabolic pathway?
A series of chemical reactions in which the product of one reaction is the substrate for the next reaction.
What are the two metabolic pathways and what is the difference?
Catabolic pathways release energy by breaking down larger molecules into smaller molecules and anabolic pathways use energy (created by catabolic pathways) to build larger molecules from smaller molecules.
What is photosynthesis?
The anabolic pathway in which light energy is converted to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars plus released oxygen.
What is cellular respiration?
A catabolic pathway in which organic molecules are broken down to release energy. Oxygen breaks down organic molecules, producing carbon dioxide and water.
What is adenosine triphosphate?
ATP is the most important biological molecule that provides chemical energy. Most abundant energy-carrier molecule in cells. A nucleotide made of an adenine base, a ribose sugar, and three phosphate groups.
What is ATP’s function?
Releasing energy when the bond between the second and third phosphate groups forming adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free phosphate group. Lots of conversions between ADP and ATP happen in energy reactions in the cell.
What is the chemical equation for photosynthesis?
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
What are the two phases of photosynthesis?
Light-dependent reactions and the light-independent reactions (Calvin Cycle)
What are thylakoids?
flattened, saclike membranes arranged in stacks in the chloroplast. Where light-dependent reactions take place
What are grana?
The stacks of thylakoids
What is the stroma?
The fluid filled space outside the grana. Where light-independent reactions take place.
What are pigments?
LIght absorbing colored molecules found in the thylakoid membranes.
What are the major light-absorbing pigments in plants?
Chlorophyll a and b (absorb most strongly in the violet blue region and reflect green light) and carotenoids (absorb light mainly in the blue and green regions and reflect yellow, orange, and red regions.)
What is NADPH?
An energy storage molecule.
What are the steps of the electron transport chain?
- light energy excites electrons in photosystem II
- Light energy causes a water molecule to split, releasing an electron into the electron transport system, a hydrogen ion into the thylakoid space, and the release of oxygen as a waste product.
3.Excited electrons move from photosystem II to an electron acceptor molecule - Electron acceptor molecule transfers the electrons along a series of electron carriers to photosystem I
- Photosystem I transfers the electrons to a protein called ferrodoxin (in the presence of light only) Electrons lost by photosystem I are replaced by electrons shuttled from photosystem II
- Ferrodoxin transfers the electrons to the electron carrier NADP+ forming NADPH.
What is chemiosmosis?
The mechanism by which ATP is produced as a result of the flow of electrons down a concentration gradient.
What is the Calvin cycle?
The second phase of photosynthesis in which energy is stored in organic molecules such as glucose. (light independent)
What are the steps of the Calvin cycle?
- Six carbon dioxide molecules combine with six 5-carbon compounds to form twelve 3-carbon molecules called 3-phosphoglycerate.
- Chemical energy stored in ATP and NADPH is transferred to the 3-PGA molecules to form high energy molecules called glyceraldehyde 3-phosphates (G3P). ATP supplies the phosphate groups and NADPH supplies hydrogen ions and electrons.
- Two of the G3P molecules leave the cycle to be used for the production of glucose and other organic compounds
- Rubisco converts the remaining ten G3P molecules into 5-carbon molecules called ribulose 1, 5-bisphosphonates.
- These combine with new carbon dioxide molecules and start over.