Light Energy Reaction (1)

LIGHT ENERGY
REACTION
MODULE 1.A
The ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
• Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy currency for
cellular processes. ATP provides the energy for both
energy-consuming endergonic reactions and energy-
releasing exergonic reactions, which require a small
input of activation energy. When the chemical bonds
within ATP are broken, energy is released and can be
harnessed for cellular work. The more bonds in a
molecule, the more potential energy it contains. Because
the bond in ATP is so easily broken and reformed, ATP is
like a rechargeable battery that powers cellular process
ranging from DNA replication to protein synthesis.
The removal of the terminal
phosphate, through the
water- mediated reaction
called hydrolysis, releases
this energy, which in turn
fuels a large number of
crucial energy-absorbing
reactions in the cell.
Hydrolysis can be
summarized as follows:
ATP +H2O ADP+Pi+ energy
• The formation of ATP is the reverse of this equation,
requiring the addition of energy. The central cellular
pathway of ATP synthesis begins with glycolysis, a form of
fermentation in which the sugar glucose is transformed into
other sugars in a series of nine enzymatic reactions, each
successive reaction involving an intermediate sugar
containing phosphate. In the process, the six-carbon
glucose is converted into two molecules of the three-carbon
pyruvic acid. Some of the energy released through
glycolysis of each glucose molecule is captured in the
formation of two ATP molecules.
ATM in Reaction coupling
• Cells must obey the laws of chemistry and

thermodynamics. When two molecules react with
each other inside a cell, their atoms are rearranged,
forming different molecules as reaction products
and releasing or consuming energy in the process.
Overall, chemical reactions occur only in one
direction; that is, the final reaction product
molecules cannot spontaneously react, in a reversal
of the original process, to reform the original
molecules. This directionality of chemical reactions
is explained by the fact that molecules only change
from states of higher free energy to states of lower
free energy. Free energy is the ability to perform
• When work is performed, some free energy is used
and lost, with the result that the process ends at
lower free energy. To use a familiar mechanical
analogy, water at the top of a hill has the ability to
perform the "work" of flewing downhill (i.e., it has
high free energy), but, once it has flowed downhill, it
cannot flow back up (i.e., it is in a state of low free
energy). However, through another work process-
that of a pump, for example- the water can be
returned to the top of the hill, thereby recovering its
ability to flow downhill. In thermodynamic terms, the
free energy of the water has been increased by
energy from an outside source (i.e., the pump). In
the same way, the product molecules of a chemical
reaction in a cell cannot reverse the reaction and
return to their original state unless energy is
Role of ATP in Energy Coupling and Transfer
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy currency for
cellular processes.
When the chemical bonds within ATP are broken, energy is
released and can be harnessed for cellular work. The more
bonds in a molecule, the more potential energy it contains.
Because the bond in ATP is so easily broken and reformed, ATP
is like a rechargeable battery that powers cellular process
ranging from DNA replication to protein synthesis. The energy
released from the hydrolysis of ATP into ADP is used to
perform cellular work, usually by coupling the exergonic
reaction of ATP hydrolysis. with endergonic reactions.
Case study: Sodium-potassium
pump
• It's energetically unfavorable to move sodium (Na+) out of, or

Potassium (K+) into, a typical cell, because this movement is
against the concentration gradients of the ions. ATP provides
energy for the transport of sodium and potassium by way of
a membrane-embedded protein called the sodium-
potassium pump (Na+/K+ pump).
• In this process, ATP transfers one of its phosphate groups to
the pump protein, forming ADP and a phosphorylated
"intermediate form of the pump. The phosphorylated pump
is unstable in its original conformation (facing the inside of
the cell), so it becomes more stable by changing shape,
opening towards the outside of the cell and releasing sodium
ions outside. When extracellular potassium ions bind to the
phosphorylated pump, they trigger the removal of the
phosphate group, making the protein unstable in its
outward-facing form. The protein will then become more
stable by returning to its original shape, releasing the
potassium ions inside the cell.
Exergonic and Endergonic
Reactions.
• Reactions that have a negative AG release free energy and

are called exergonic reactions. (Handy mnemonic: EXergonic
means energy is Exiting the system.) A negative AG means
that the reactants, or initial state, have more free energy
than the products, or final state. Exergonic reactions are also
called spontaneous reactions, because they can occur
without the addition of energy.
• Reactions with a positive AG (AG > 0), on the other hand,
require an input of energy and are called endergonic
reactions. In this case, the products, or final state, have more
free energy than the reactants, or initial state. Endergonic
reactions are non-spontaneous, meaning that energy must
be added before they can proceed. You can think of
endergonic reactions as storing some of the added energy in
the higher- energy products they form.
• It's important to realize that the word spontaneous has a
very specific meaning here: it means a reaction will take
place without added energy, but it doesn't say anything
about how quickly the reaction will happen. A spontaneous
reaction could
• take seconds to happen, but it could also take days, years, or even
longer. The rate of a reaction depends on the path it takes
between starting and final states (the purple lines on the diagrams
below), while spontaneity is only dependent on the starting and
final states themselves. We'll explore reaction rates further when
we look at activation energy.
Spontaneity of forward and reverse
reactions
If a reaction is endergonic in one direction (e.g., converting
products to reactants), then it must be exergonic in the other,
and vice versa. As an example, let's consider the synthesis and
breakdown of the small molecule adenosine triphosphate,
which is the "energy currency of the cell.
ATP is made from adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and
phosphate (Pi) according to the following equation:
ADP+Pi ATP+ H20
This is an endergonic reaction, with AG+7.3kcal/mol, 3 under
standard conditions meaning 1 M concentrations of all
reactants and products, latm pressure, 25 degrees C and ph of
7.0. In the cells of your body, the energy needed to make ATP
is provided by the breakdown of fuel molecules, such as
glucose, or by other reactions that are energy-releasing
(exergonic).
The reverse process, the hydrolysis (water-mediated
breakdown) of ATP, is identical but with the reaction flipped
backwards:
ATP +H20 ADP+ Pi
This is an exergonic reaction, and its AG is identical in
magnitude and opposite in sign to that of the ATP synthesis
reaction (AG-7.3kcal/mol under standard conditions). This
relationship of same magnitude and opposite signs will always
apply to the forward and backward reactions of a reversible
process.
Thank You!
MODULE 1.A

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LIGHT ENERGY

• Cells must obey the laws of chemistry and

• It's energetically unfavorable to move sodium (Na+) out of, or

• Reactions that have a negative AG release free energy and

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