Biology II Chapter 6: Energy Flow in the Life of a Cell

What Is Energy?
Energy: the capacity to do work
2 Types of Energy
Potential: stored energy
Chemical energy stored in the bonds that hold atoms together
Positional energy stored in an object right before movement
Kinetic: energy of movement
Light movement of photons
Heat movement of molecules
Electricity movement of electrically charged particles
Energy Flow Depends on 2 Things:
The quantity of available energy
The usefulness of the energy
The laws of thermodynamics describe the basic properties and behavior of energy.
2 Laws of Thermodynamics:
1st Law of Thermodynamics: the total amount of energy within a given system remains the same
as long as there is not an introduction of energy
Also called the law of conservation of energy
Energy cannot be created or destroyed by ordinary processes
Energy can change form from chemical to heat
2nd Law of Thermodynamics: when energy is converted from one form to another, the amount of
useful energy is decreased
All spontaneous changes result in a more uniform distribution of energy reducing energy
differences that are essential for doing work
Energy is spontaneously converted from more useful energy to less useful forms
Energy released as heat is in a less usable form
No energy conversion process is 100% efficient (including those that occur in the body)

Regions of concentrated energy tend to be highly ordered

Unless energy is added to a system, processes that occur spontaneously result in an increase in randomness
and disorder

Entropy: the tendency toward a decrease in order and high-level energy and an increase in
randomness and low-level energy
We all experience entropy in our internal and external environments- without our energetic cleaning and
organizing efforts, things tend to end up in a state of disorder
If chemical reactions cause the amount of unusable energy to increase, and if matter tends toward disorder
How can organisms accumulate the concentrated energy and precisely ordered molecules that make up living
things?
Answer: nuclear reactions in the sun produce energy in the form of sunlight a process that also
produces great increases in entropy
All living things use a continuous input of solar energy to synthesize complex molecules and maintain
orderly structures
Highly-organized, low-entropy systems do not violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics they are achieved at
the expense of an enormous loss of usable energy from the sun
How Does Energy Flow in Chemical Reactions?
A chemical reaction is a process that forms or breaks the chemical bonds that hold atoms together
Convert one set of chemical substances called reactants into another set/final substance called the
products
All chemical reactions are either exergonic or endergonic.
Exergonic: energy out; reactants contain more energy than the products
Releases energy (due to the reaction)
Example: burning glucose (cellular respiration)
When sugar is burned, it reacts with oxygen to produce CO2 and H2O and release
energy
2 Important Concepts:
1) Sugar molecules contain more energy than CO2 and H2O
Energy release allows exergonic reactions to occur without a net input of
energy once ignited, will burn spontaneously
From high energy to low energy (going downhill)
2)
All chemical reactions require an initial input (or push) of energy to get started
called activation energy
The usual source is kinetic energy of movement
Molecules move faster as the temperature increases, therefore, most chemical
reactions occur more readily at high temperatures

The initial heat begins the reaction and the combination of reactants releases
enough of its own heat to sustain the reaction

Endergonic: energy in; the products contain more energy than the reactants
Requires energy (from an outside source)
Example: creating glucose (photosynthesis)
When sugar is produced by photosynthetic organisms, it contains far more energy
than the CO2 and H2O from which it was formed
Synthesizing complex biological molecules requires an input of energy
Photosynthesis takes low-energy CO2 and H2O and uses them to produce oxygen and
high-energy sugar
Requires energy obtained from sunlight
From low energy to high energy (going uphill)

Coupled Reactions
An exergonic reaction provides the energy needed to drive an endergonic reaction
In photosynthesis:
Exergonic reaction occurs in the sunlight
Most energy is lost as heat; therefore usable energy decreases
Endergonic reaction occurs in the plant

Living organisms constantly use exergonic reaction energy (breakdown of sugar) to drive endergonic
reactions (brain activity, muscle contraction/movement, molecule synthesis)
Cannot happen unless an exergonic reaction has already occurred somewhere in the body to
provide the energy required
Exergonic energy must exceed endergonic needs since some energy is lost as heat every time
it is transformed
Within cells:
Energy is transferred from place to place by energy-carrier molecules most common is
ATP

How Is Cellular Energy Carried Between Coupled Reactions?

Energy from glucose must be transferred to an energy-carrier molecule because it cannot be used directly for
certain reactions

Energy carriers work similar to rechargeable batteries

Pick up energy charge at an exergonic reaction, move to another location within the cell, and release
the energy to drive an endergonic reaction
Energy-carrier molecules are unstable
Only used for temporary energy transfer within a cell
Not used cell-to-cell or for long-term energy storage
Several exergonic reactions in cells produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate) the most common energycarrier molecule in cells
ATP serves as a common currency of energy transfer
Energy released in cells during glucose breakdown is used to create ATP from ADP + phosphate
ATP stores the energy within its chemical bonds and can carry the energy to sites in the cell that
perform energy-requiring reactions (muscle contraction or protein synthesis)
ATP is then broken down back into ADP + phosphate and energy is released
During energy transfers, some heat is given off at each stage, therefore an overall loss of usable
energy
Heat is used by warm-blooded animals to maintain a high body temperature
The life span of an ATP molecule in a living cell is very short because they energy carrier is
continuously formed, broken down, and resynthesized
More stable molecules (glycogen and fat) can store energy for hours, days, or even years
In addition to ATP, other carrier molecules can also transport energy within a cell
Some exergonic reactions use the transfer of electrons (glucose metabolism and energy-capturing
stage of photosynthesis)
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Use electron carriers such as NAD+

Donate electrons and their energy to other molecules
How Do Cells Control Their Metabolic Reactions?
Metabolism the sum of all of a cells chemical reactions
Many reactions are linked sequences called metabolic pathways (such as photosynthesis and glycolysis)
Different pathways may utilize the same molecules, therefore, all reactions and all molecules of a
cell are interconnected in a single, complicated metabolic pathway.
The biochemistry of cells is finely tuned in 3 ways:
Cells regulate chemical reactions through the use of enzymes
Cells couple reactions together
Cell synthesize energy-carrier molecules that capture energy from exergonic reactions and transport
it to endergonic reactions
The speed at which a reaction occurs is determined by its activation energy
At body temperature:
Low activation energy proceed swiftly
High activation energy almost nonexistent
Most reactions can be sped up by increasing temperature
In living cells, sugar and other energetic molecules would not almost never break down spontaneously
without the enzymes produced that allow sugar to be an important energy source
Catalysts are molecules that speed up the rate of a reaction without being used up, damaged, or altered
permanently.
3 Important Principles:
Speed up reactions
Speed up only the reactions that would occur spontaneously at a much slower rate
Not consumed in the reactions they promote
Enzymes are biological catalysts usually proteins
Use chemical means to orient, distort, and reconfigure molecules into new combinations
Complex 3-dimensional shapes required for proper function
2 Attributes:
Usually very specific
Often regulated enhanced or suppressed by the molecules whose reactions they catalyze
Enzyme function is intimately related to enzyme structure
Each has a pocket called the active site
Substrates the reactant molecules enter here
The active site of each enzyme has a distinctive shape and electrical charge that is
complementary to its substrate
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The cycle of enzyme-substrate interactions

1) Subtrates enter active site in a specific orientation
2) Substrates and active site change shape promoting reaction
3) Substrates bond together and leave the enzyme

Enzymes are precisely regulated and promote only very specific reactions
Breakdown or synthesis of a molecule occurs in discrete steps each catalyzed by a different
enzyme
Lowering the activation energy for its particular reaction
Cells have evolved many ways of regulating enzyme activity
Regulate the synthesis of enzymes to meet their changing needs
Reactions can occur only if the necessary enzymes are available
Synthesize some enzymes in an inactive form to be activated only when needed
Inhibit enzymes when adequate amounts of the enzymes product are available
Feedback inhibitors the activity of an enzyme is inhibited by its own product or a
subsequent product
Certain enzymes are subject to allosteric regulation
Allosteric means other shape
Enzyme action is enhanced or inhibited by small organic molecules that act as regulators at a
regulator site
One mechanism of feedback inhibition
Some cases, 2 or more molecules that are similar in structure compete for the active site called
competitive inhibition
Molecule with similar structure occupies the active site and blocks entry of the correct
substrate

Enzyme shape is sensitive to environmental conditions

Bonds can be altered by their chemical and physical surroundings
Each enzymes function at particular at pH level, temperature, and salt concentration
pH: between 6 and 8
Salt solutions: Type of organism and its corresponding environment determine enzyme
function
Temperature: affects rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions
Some enzymes require the presence of an addition enzyme in order to function called a coenzyme such
as vitamins
These organic molecules bind to the enzyme and interact with the substrate molecule
Help weaken the bonds of the substrate, allowing it to react with the enzyme
Many are not normally produced by the human body requires an outside nutritional source
Example: Water-soluble vitamins
Such as B-vitamins