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The fact that a reaction is thermodynamically possible does not mean that it will actually occur. A mixture of hydrogen gas and oxygen gas does not spontaneously ignite. It is necessary either to supply an activation energy or to lower the intrinsic activation energy of the system, in order to make most biochemical reactions proceed at a useful ...
In chemical thermodynamics, an endergonic reaction (from Greek ἔνδον (endon) 'within' and ἔργον (ergon) 'work'; also called a heat absorbing nonspontaneous reaction or an unfavorable reaction) is a chemical reaction in which the standard change in free energy is positive, and an additional driving force is needed to perform this ...
Anabolism usually involves reduction and decreases entropy, making it unfavorable without energy input. [6] The starting materials, called the precursor molecules, are joined using the chemical energy made available from hydrolyzing ATP, reducing the cofactors NAD + , NADP + , and FAD , or performing other favorable side reactions. [ 7 ]
Practically, enthalpies, not free energy, are used to determine whether a reaction is favorable or unfavorable, because ∆H° is easier to measure and T∆S° is usually too small to be of any significance (for T < 100 °C). A reaction with ∆H°<0 is called exothermic reaction while one with ∆H°>0 is endothermic.
Thermochemistry is the study of the heat energy which is associated with chemical reactions and/or phase changes such as melting and boiling. A reaction may release or absorb energy, and a phase change may do the same. Thermochemistry focuses on the energy exchange between a system and its surroundings in the form of heat. Thermochemistry is ...
Large particles are more energetically favorable since, continuing with this example, more atoms are bonded to 6 neighbors and fewer atoms are at the unfavorable surface. As the system tries to lower its overall energy, molecules on the surface of a small particle (energetically unfavorable, with only 3 or 4 or 5 bonded neighbors) will tend to ...
Limited synthesis of adenosine triphosphate impairs many cellular transport mechanisms that utilize ATP to drive energetically unfavorable processes that transport ions and molecules across the cellular membrane. For example, the membrane potential of the cell is maintained by the sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Failure of the pump results in ...
Syntrophy, in the context of microbial metabolism, refers to the pairing of multiple species to achieve a chemical reaction that, on its own, would be energetically unfavorable. The best studied example of this process is the oxidation of fermentative end products (such as acetate, ethanol and butyrate ) by organisms such as Syntrophomonas .