examples for thermodynamics based on enzymes
Answers
Answer:
Energy and enzymes
Learning Objectives
Explain how the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics applies to living organisms
Predict the direction of reactions from Gibbs free energy changes, and vice versa
Distinguish between steady-state (homeostasis) and chemical equilibrium
Use energy diagrams to explain how catalysts increase rates of reaction
Plot enzyme kinetics: initial velocity as a function of substrate concentration
Distinguish between competitive and noncompetitive inhibition
Distinguish between binding of substrate and binding of allosteric regulators to enzymes
How do the laws of thermodynamics apply to living organisms?
The First Law says that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
The Second Law says that in any energy conversion, some energy is wasted as heat; moreover, the entropy of any closed system always increases.
One way we can see the Second Law at work is in our daily diet. We eat food each day, without gaining that same amount of body weight! The food we eat is largely expended as carbon dioxide and heat energy, plus some work done in repairing and rebuilding bodily cells and tissues, physical movement, and neuronal activity.
Although living organisms appear to reduce entropy, by assembling small molecules into polymers and higher order structures, this work releases waste heat that increases the entropy of the environment.