Midterm II -- Ch. 8 - Metabolism Flashcards
Metabolism
The totality of an organism’s chemical reactions.
metabolic pathway
a series of chemical reactions that either builds a complex molecule (anabolic pathway) or breaks down a complex molecule (catabolic pathway).
catabolic pathways
metabolic pathways that release energy by breaking down complex molecules to simpler compounds
anabolic pathways
consume energy to build complicated molecules from simpler ones; aka biosynthetic pathways.
kinetic energy
energy that can be associated with the relative motion of objects.
heat/thermal energy
kinetic energy associated w/ the random movement of molecules or atoms.
potential energy
energy that is not kinetic; energy that matter posses b/c of its location or structure.
chemical energy
potential energy available for release in a chemical reaction.
thermodynamics
the study of energy transformations that occur in a collection of matter.
first law of thermodynamics
the energy of the universe is constant; Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.”
entropy
a quantity used as a measure of disorder or randomness.
second law of thermodynamics
the more randomly arranged a collection of matter is, the greater its entropy; “every energy transfer or transformation increases the entropy of the universe.”
spontaneous process
a process that can occur w/p an input of energy.
free energy
the portion of a biological system’s energy that can perform work when temperature and pressure are uniform throughout the system.
know Gibbs free energy formula
exergonic reaction
“energy outward”; a spontaneous chemical reaction, in which there is a net release of free energy.
endergonic reaction
“energy inward”; a reaction that absorbs free energy from its surroundings.
energy coupling
the use of an exergonic process to drive an endergonic one.
ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
an adenine-containing nucleoside triphosphate that releases free energy when its phosphate bonds are hydrolyzed; this energy is used to drive endergonic reactions in cells.
phosphorylated intermediate
a molecule (often a reactant) w/ a phosphate group covalently bound to it, making it more reactive (less stable) than the unphosphorylated molecule.
enzyme
a macromolecule that catalyses/increases the rate of a reaction w/o being consumed by the reaction; most are proteins
catalyst
chemical agent that selectively increases the rate of a reaction w/o being consumed by the reaction.
activation energy
the initial investment of energy for starting a reaction; the energy required to contort the reactant molecules so the bonds can break; “free energy of activation.”
substrate
the reactant an enzyme reacts on.
enzyme-substrate complex.
formed when an enzyme binds to its substrates, (when there are two or more reactants).