BIOL 1001 Chapter : Biology Chapter 6 Lecture Notes

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15 Mar 2019
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Chapter 6
Energy Flow in the Life of a Cell
6.1 What Is Energy?
Energy is the capacity to do work
Work is a force acting on an object that causes the object to move
Chemical energy is the energy that is contained in molecules and released by
chemical reactions
Molecules that provide chemical energy include sugar, glycogen, and fat
Cells use specialized molecules such as ATP to accept and transfer energy
from one chemical reaction to the next
There are two fundamental types of energy
Potential energy is stored energy
For example, the chemical energy in bonds, the electrical charge in a
battery, and a penguin poised to plunge
Kinetic energy is the energy of movement
For example, light, heat, electricity, and the movement of objects
The laws of thermodynamics describe the basic properties of energy
The laws describe the quantity (the total amount) and the quality (the
usefulness) of energy
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed (the first law of
thermodynamics), but can change form
The first law is often called the law of conservation of energy.
The total amount of energy within a closed system remains constant unless
energy is added or removed from the system
The amount of useful energy decreases when energy is converted from one
form to another (the second law of thermodynamics)
Entropy (disorder) is the tendency to move toward a loss of complexity and
of useful energy and toward an increase in randomness, disorder, and less-
useful energy
Useful energy tends to be stored in highly organized matter, and when
energy is used in a closed system (such as the world in which we live), there
is an overall increase in entropy
For example, when gasoline is burned, the orderly arrangement of eight
carbons bound together in a gasoline molecule are converted to eight
randomly moving molecules of carbon dioxide
Living things use the energy of sunlight to create the low-entropy conditions of life
The highly organized low-entropy systems of life do not violate the second
law of thermodynamics because they are achieved through a continuous
influx of usable light energy from the sun
In creating kinetic energy in the form of sunlight, the sun also produces vast
entropy as heat
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Document Summary

Energy flow in the life of a cell. Molecules that provide chemical energy include sugar, glycogen, and fat. Cells use specialized molecules such as atp to accept and transfer energy from one chemical reaction to the next: there are two fundamental types of energy. Potential energy is stored energy: for example, the chemical energy in bonds, the electrical charge in a battery, and a penguin poised to plunge. Kinetic energy is the energy of movement: for example, light, heat, electricity, and the movement of objects, the laws of thermodynamics describe the basic properties of energy. The laws describe the quantity (the total amount) and the quality (the usefulness) of energy. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed (the first law of thermodynamics), but can change form: the first law is often called the law of conservation of energy. The total amount of energy within a closed system remains constant unless energy is added or removed from the system.

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