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ENERGY
TRANSFORMATION

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

 Explain coupled reaction processes and describe the

role of ATP in energy coupling and transfer
STEM_BIO11/12IIa-j-1

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FORMS OF ENERGY,
LAWS OF ENERGY
TRANSFORMATION &
ROLE OF ATP

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING ORGANISMS

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LIVING ORGANISMS ARE OPEN SYSTEMS.

 Energy and matter can be

transferred between the
system and its surroundings.
 Processes (Bioenergetics)
that happen within a living
organism is still influenced
and affects the surroundings.

ENERGY FLOW AND CHEMICAL RECYCLING IN

ECOSYSTEMS

Forms of Energy :
 Energy is the capacity to cause
change.
 It is also the ability to rearrange a
collection of matter.
 In the environment different
forms of energy exist: Kinetic,
Light and Potential energy.

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ENERGY ALLOWS CELLS TO DO LIFE’S

WORK

 Physicists define energy as the ability

to do work– that is, to move matter.
 Life depends on rearranging atoms
and trafficking substances across
membranes in precise ways.
 These intricate movements represent
work, and they require energy.

KINETIC ENERGY

 Energy associated with

relative motion of objects
 Kinetic energy – energy
being used to do work; any
moving object possesses this
form of energy.

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POTENTIAL ENERGY

 Possessed energy of a matter

at rest (non-moving form)
 Potential energy – stored
energy to do work.

CHEMICAL ENERGY

 Potential energy released in a

chemical reaction

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THERMAL ENERGY

 Type of kinetic energy

associated with random
movement of atoms

LIGHT ENERGY

 Main energy source is the sun

and powers photosynthesis
(anabolic process)

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ENERGY IS CONVERTED FROM ONE

FORM TO ANOTHER
Physical laws describe the energy conversions vital for life,
as well as those that occur in the nonliving world. They apply to
all energy transformations– gasoline combustion in a car’s engine,
a burning chunk of wood, or a cell breaking down glucose.
Two of these physical laws are especially relevant to the
study of biology.

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LAWS OF ENERGY TRANSFORMATION

Thermodynamics is the study of energy transformations

that occurs in a system (collection of matter). Living systems are
considered as open systems because energy and matter are
transferred between systems and the surroundings.
1st Law: The energy of the universe is constant: Energy
can be transferred and transformed but it cannot be created
nor destroyed.

 The most important

energy transformations:
photosynthesis and
cellular respiration.

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 A second physical law states that all energy transformations are

inefficient because every reaction loses some energy to the
surroundings as heat.
 You will lose some energy as heat with every chemical reaction.
 This process is irreversible; the lost heat energy will NOT return to a
useful form.

LAWS OF ENERGY TRANSFORMATION

2nd Law: Every energy transfer or transformation

increases the energy of the universe.
 Organisms as open system increase order as long as the order
in their surroundings decreases. This shows that as living
organism transfers/transforms energy to its surroundings, the
disorder increases, thus increases entropy.

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 Entropy is a measure of
randomness. In general, the
more disordered the system
is, the higher the entropy.

“To sum up, the First Law of Thermodynamics tells us

about conservation of energy among processes, while the
Second Law of Thermodynamics talks about the
directionality of the processes, that is, from lower to
higher entropy (in the universe overall).”

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NETWORKS OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS

SUSTAIN LIFE

 Metabolism – encompasses all of the chemical reactions in

cells, including those that build new molecules and those that
break down existing ones.
 Each reaction rearranges atoms into new compounds, and each
reaction either absorbs or releases energy.

CHEMICAL REACTIONS ABSORB OR RELEASE

ENERGY

 Biologists group metabolic reactions into two categories based

on energy requirements: those that require energy input to
proceed and those that release energy.

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REACTIONS THAT REQUIRE ENERGY INPUT: PRODUCTS

CONTAIN MORE ENERGY THAN REACTANTS

 Reactions that build complex

molecules from simpler components
therefore typically require energy
input. One example is photosynthesis.
Glucose (C6H12O6), the product of
photosynthesis, contains more
potential energy than carbon dioxide
(CO2) and water (H2O), the reactants.
The energy source that powers this
reaction is sunlight.

REACTIONS THAT RELEASE ENERGY: REACTANTS

CONTAIN MORE ENERGY THAN PRODUCTS

 Such reactions break large, complex

molecules into their smaller, simpler
components. Cellular respiration, the
breakdown of glucose to carbon dioxide
and water, is an example.The products,
carbon dioxide and water, contain less
energy than glucose.

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FREE ENERGY
 Energy that can do work under cellular conditions
 Gibbs free energy – the energy in the system that can perform work when
temperature and pressure are uniform throughout the system:
∆G = ∆H – T∆S
 Also known as free energy change
 Measure of system’s instability (trend: tendency to change to a more stable
state)
 Increase in G: UNSTABLE; Decrease in G: STABLE

RESULTS:

 Negative ∆G release energy – without energy input –

spontaneous
 Positive ∆G – input of energy – non-spontaneous
 Releases heat (negative ∆H) or increases the entropy of
the system - make ∆G more negative
 Absorbs heat or decreases the entropy of the system -
make ∆G more positive

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EXERGONIC REACTIONS

 Exergonic reactions - energy is

released (energy outward), more
decrease in free energy = more work
done
 Negative ∆G release free energy
and are called exergonic reactions
 Spontaneous reactions – occur
without the addition of energy

ENDERGONIC REACTIONS

 Endergonic reactions - energy is

absorbed (energy inward). Plants stores
energy in the form of glucose (from
carbon dioxide and water)
 Positive ∆G – require an input of
energy and are called endergonic
reactions
 Non-spontaneous – energy must be
added before it can proceed

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EQUILIBRIUM AND METABOLISM

 Equilibrium = NO WORK. This usually happens in

isolated systems that reach equilibrium.
 A cell that reaches the state of equilibrium is DEAD.
 A normal cell is not in equilibrium, because its products
are not accumulated within its system, INSTEAD the
products becomes a reactant in the next step.

HOW CELLS STAY OUT OF EQUILIBRIUM

Cells stay out of equilibrium by manipulating concentrations of reactants

and products to keep their metabolic reactions running in the right
direction. For instance:
 They may use energy to import reactant molecules (keeping them at
a high concentration).
 They may use energy to export product molecules (keeping them at a
low concentration).
 They may organize chemical reactions into metabolic pathways, in
which one reaction "feeds" the next.

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LINKED OXIDATION AND REDUCTION REACTIONS

FORM ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAINS

 Oxidation-reduction (“redox”) reactions – transfer energized

electrons from one molecule to another
 Oxidation – loss of electrons and a corresponding loss of energy– from
a molecule, atom or ion
 Reduction – a gain of electrons (and their energy)
 Oxidations and reductions occur simultaneously because electrons
removed from one molecule during oxidation join another molecule and
reduce it.

ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN

 Each protein accepts an electron

from the molecule before it and
passes it to the next
 As a result, each protein in the chain is
first reduced then oxidized.
 Small amounts of energy – released
each step & the cell uses this
energy in other reactions.

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ATP IS CELLULAR ENERGY

CURRENCY
 Adenosine triphosphate (more commonly known as ATP)
temporarily stores energy in covalent bonds, then uses the energy
to power reactions that require energy input.
 In this way, cells indirectly use food energy to fuel muscle
contractions and all other energy-requiring processes.
 In eukaryotic cells, mitochondria produce most of a cell’s ATP,
using the potential energy in the bonds of one glucose molecule
to generate dozens of ATP molecules in cellular respiration.

ENERGY IN ATP IS CRITICAL TO THE LIFE

OF A CELL
 ATP – a type of nucleotide
 Components: nitrogen-containing
base adenine, the five-carbon
sugar ribose, and three
phosphate groups (PO4)
 Negative charges on neighboring
phosphate groups repel one
another making the molecule
unstable.

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ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE (ATP)

 Mediates most energy coupling in cells

 Powers cellular work
 Three (3) main kinds of work of a cell: chemical work,
transport work and mechanical work. These are
possible through energy coupling, where the cells use
an exergonic process to drive an endergonic reactions.

ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATE (ATP)

 Chemical work: synthesis of polymers from monomers

(pushing of endergonic reactions)
 Transport work: pumping of substances across
membranes (against the direction of spontaneous movement)
 Mechanical work: beating of cilia, contraction of muscles
 Also used to make RNA (since ATP is used as one of the
nucleoside triphosphate)

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ALL CELLS DEPEND ON THE POTENTIAL ENERGY IN ATP TO

POWER THEIR ACTIVITIES.

 When a cell requires energy for a

chemical reaction, it “spends” ATP
by removing the endmost phosphate
group.
 The products of this hydrolysis
reaction are adenosine
diphosphate, the liberated
phosphate group and a burst of
energy.

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HYDROLYSIS OF ATP

 Process of breaking down bonds

between the phosphate groups
 Happens when a water molecule
breaks the terminal phosphate bond
 HOPO32-, abbreviated P1 leaves
ATP
 Forming Adenosine diphosphate
(ADP)

 In reverse situation, energy can

be temporarily stored by
adding a phosphate to ADP,
forming ATP and water.
 The energy for this reaction
comes from molecules broken
down in other reactions, such
as those in cellular respiration.

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HOW DOES THIS COUPLING WORK?

 A cell uses ATP as an energy source by transferring its phosphate

group to another molecule. This transfer may have either two
effects:
 In one scenario, the presence of the phosphate may energize
the target molecule, making it more likely to bond with other
molecules.
 The other possible consequence is a change in the shape of
the target molecule.

ATP IS SOMETIMES DESCRIBED AS ENERGY “CURRENCY”

 Just as you can use money to purchase a variety of

different products, all cells use ATP in many chemical
reactions to do different kinds of work.
 Besides transporting substances across cell membrane,
other examples of jobs that require ATP include muscle
contraction, moving chromosomes during cell division,
and synthesizing the large molecules that make up cells.

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THE REGENERATION OF ATP

 ATP – renewable; it can be regenerated by the addition of phosphate
to ADP
 Catabolism (exergonic) – provides the free energy to phosphorylate
ADP
 ATP formation – not spontaneous; there is a need to use free energy
for the process to work
 ATP cycle – the shuttling of inorganic phosphate and energy
 It couples the cell’s energy yielding processes (exergonic) to energy
consuming process (endergonic).

ATP IS ALSO ANALOGOUS TO A FULLY CHARGED

RECHARGEABLE BATTERY

 A full battery represents a versatile

source of potential energy that
can provide power to many types of
electronic devices.
 Although a dead battery is no
longer useful as an energy source,
you can recharge a spent battery
to restore its utility.
 Likewise, the cell can use respiration
to rebuild its pool of ATP.

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ATP REPRESENTS SHORT-TERM ENERGY

STORAGE

Organisms require huge amounts of ATP. A typical human

cell uses the equivalent of 2 billion ATP molecules in a minute
to stay alive. Organisms recycle ATP at a furious pace, adding
phosphate groups to ADP to reconstitute ATP, using the
ATP to drive reactions and turning over the entire supply every
minute or so. If you ran out of ATP, you would die instantly.

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END OF LESSON 1

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