Chapter 8- Lecture Outline Flashcards
The Energy of Life
The living cell is a miniature chemical factory where thousands of reactions occur
The cell extracts energy stored in sugars and other fuels and applies energy to perform work
Some organisms even convert energy to light, as in bioluminescence
_______________ is the totality of an organism’s chemical reactions
Metabolism is an emergent property of life that arises from orderly interactions between molecules
Organization of the Chemistry of Life into Metabolic Pathways
Metabolism
A metabolic pathway begins with a specific molecule and ends with a product
Each step is catalyzed by a specific enzyme
______________________ release energy by breaking down complex molecules into simpler compounds
Catabolic pathways
________________________ the breakdown of glucose
in the presence of oxygen, is an example of a pathway of catabolism
Cellular respiration,
_____________ consume energy to build complex molecules from simpler ones
The synthesis of protein from amino acids is an example of anabolism
Anabolic pathways
__________ is the study of how energy flows through living organisms
Forms of Energy
Bioenergetics
__________s the capacity to cause change
Energy exists in various forms, some of which can perform work
Energy
__________________ is energy associated with motion
__________________: is kinetic energy associated with random movement of atoms or molecules
__________________ is energy that matter possesses because of its location or structure
______________ is potential energy available
for release in a chemical reaction
Kinetic energy
Heat (thermal energy)
Potential energy
Chemical energy
Energy can be converted from one form to another
but it can be neither created nor destroyed
___________________
According to the first law of thermodynamics, the energy of the universe is constant
Energy can be transferred and transformed,
but it cannot be created or destroyed
The first law is also called the principle of conservation of energy
Figure 8.3
The First Law of Thermodynamics
___________________
During every energy transfer or transformation, some energy is unusable, and is often lost
as heat
According to the second law of thermodynamics
Every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy
The Second Law of Thermodynamics
occur without energy input; they can happen quickly or slowly
For a process to occur without energy input,
it must increase the entropy of the universe
Spontaneous processes
Cells create ordered structures from less ordered materials
Organisms also replace ordered forms of matter and energy with less ordered forms
Energy flows into an ecosystem in the form of light and exits in the form of heat
The evolution of more complex organisms does not violate the second law of thermodynamics
Entropy (disorder) may decrease in an organism, but the universe’s total entropy increases
Biologists want to know which reactions occur spontaneously and which require input of energy
To do so, they need to determine energy changes that occur in chemical reactions
Free-Energy Change, G
A living system’s free energy is energy that can do work when temperature and pressure are uniform, as in a living cell
free energy
The change in free energy (∆G) during a process is related to the change in enthalpy, or change in total energy (∆H), change in entropy (∆S), and temperature in Kelvin units (T)
∆G = ∆H - T∆S
Only processes with a negative ∆G are spontaneous
Spontaneous processes can be harnessed to perform work
Free Energy, Stability, and Equilibrium
Free energy is a measure of a system’s instability, its tendency to change to a more stable state
During a spontaneous change, free energy decreases and the stability of a system increases
Equilibrium is a state of maximum stability
A process is spontaneous and can perform work only when it is moving toward equilibrium
Free Energy and Metabolism
The concept of free energy can be applied to the
chemistry of life’s processes
___________ proceeds with a net release of free energy and is spontaneous
____________________ absorbs free energy from its surroundings and is nonspontaneous
An exergonic reaction
An endergonic reaction
A cell does three main kinds of work
Chemical
Transport
Mechanical
To do work, cells manage energy resources by __________________ the use of an exergonic process to drive an endergonic one
energy coupling,
ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is the cell’s energy shuttle
ATP is composed of ribose (a sugar), adenine
(a nitrogenous base), and three phosphate groups