Biochemistry 2280A Study Guide - Organic Chemistry, Nicotinamide, Glutamine
5 May 2014
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Document Summary
Living organisms carry out a diverse set of tasks, such as building and maintaining physical structures, moving, synthesizing macromolecules, maintaining electrochemical gradients, and maintaining a constant body temperature. One fundamental problem living organisms face is how to obtain energy to carry out these tasks. When considered at their most basic level, all of the activities mentioned above involve chemical reactions. Any chemical reaction can, in principle, proceed in one of two directions, in which the reactants are transformed into products , or vice versa. Whether or not a chemical reaction requires energy to proceed in a particular direction depends on the change in gibbs free energy ( g, which equals gproducts greactants) that takes place when the reaction occurs. The g for a given reaction depends in part on the inherent characteristics of the reaction and the molecules involved, and in part on the molecules" concentrations and environmental factors.
