Review of Thermodynamics Flashcards
What is Life?
a living system that must have the ability to extract energy from its environment, transform it and use that energy to be productive
Closed system
allows only exchange of energy with its surroundings and disallows exchange of matters (SOME MEMBRANES)
Open system
able to exchange energy and matter with its surroundings (MOST CELLS)
Internal Energy of a System
can change only by the exchange of heat or work with its surroundings (first law of thermodynamics)
What is included in internal energy?
kinetic, vibrational/rotational and it is stored in covalent/non-covalent bonds between atoms
What is a state function?
states that are independent of paths and depend on the initial and final state of the system
Entropy
the measure of randomness or disorder in a system
the entropy of the universe is always ___?
increasing (second law of thermodynamics)
When is delta G spontaneous?
exergonic reaction (negative)
When is delta G non-spontaneous?
endergonic reaction (positive)
When is delta G at equilibrium?
at 0, energy is neither consumed or released
Life involves a temporary decrease in ___
entropy
Are living things ever at equilibrium?
No
