BIOL108 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Cellular Respiration, Adenosine Triphosphate, Exergonic Reaction
3 Aug 2018
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Document Summary
All living things require energy to grow and reproduce. Plants capture about 2% of solar energy. At each step, some of this captured energy is lost as metabolic heat. For example: species on the sea floor or inside a solid rock gain their energy from oxidation of inorganic compounds, as they are independent on solar energy. The sum total of all the chem reactions that take place in a cell is called metabolism. Each individual reaction consists of substrates (reactants) that are transformed into products. A reaction will only proceed spontaneously if it releases energy (exergonic reaction) Some reactions requires an input of energy to proceed (endergonic reactions) Substrates often need to be activated in some way before a reaction will take place. For example: a match is needed to make a fire the friction of striking generates heat to ignite the chemicals in the match head.
