Gibbs free energy

(noun)

The difference between the enthalpy of a system and the product of its entropy and absolute temperature

Related Terms

  • exergonic reaction
  • endergonic reaction

Examples of Gibbs free energy in the following topics:

  • Free Energy

    • Free energy, called Gibbs free energy (G), is usable energy or energy that is available to do work.
    • Free energy is called Gibbs free energy (G) after Josiah Willard Gibbs, the scientist who developed the measurement.
    • Gibbs free energy specifically refers to the energy associated with a chemical reaction that is available after accounting for entropy.
    • In other words, Gibbs free energy is usable energy or energy that is available to do work.
    • Exergonic and endergonic reactions result in changes in Gibbs free energy.
  • Activation Energy

    • Activation energy is the energy required for a reaction to occur, and determines its rate.
    • This small amount of energy input necessary for all chemical reactions to occur is called the activation energy (or free energy of activation) and is abbreviated EA.
    • Since these are energy-storing bonds, they release energy when broken.
    • The free energy released from the exergonic reaction is absorbed by the endergonic reaction.
    • Free energy diagrams illustrate the energy profiles for a given reaction.
  • ATP: Adenosine Triphosphate

    • Since ATP hydrolysis releases energy, ATP synthesis must require an input of free energy.
    • Exactly how much free energy (∆G) is released with the hydrolysis of ATP, and how is that free energy used to do cellular work?
    • Unless quickly used to perform work, ATP spontaneously dissociates into ADP + Pi, and the free energy released during this process is lost as heat.
    • The Na+/K+ pump gains the free energy and undergoes a conformational change, allowing it to release three Na+ to the outside of the cell.
    • By donating free energy to the Na+/K+ pump, phosphorylation drives the endergonic reaction.
  • ATP in Metabolism

    • A living cell cannot store significant amounts of free energy.
    • Excess free energy would result in an increase of heat in the cell, which would lead to excessive thermal motion that could damage and then destroy the cell.
    • ATP is often called the "energy currency" of the cell and can be used to fill any energy need of the cell.
    • The hydrolysis of ATP produces ADP, together with an inorganic phosphate ion (Pi), and the release of free energy.
    • The ADP molecule and a free phosphate ion are released into the medium and are available for recycling through cell metabolism.
  • ATP and Muscle Contraction

    • ATP is critical for muscle contractions because it breaks the myosin-actin cross-bridge, freeing the myosin for the next contraction.
    • ATP first binds to myosin, moving it to a high-energy state.
    • ADP and Pi remain attached; myosin is in its high energy configuration .
    • As myosin expends the energy, it moves through the "power stroke," pulling the actin filament toward the M-line.
    • At the end of the power stroke, the myosin is in a low-energy position.
  • Mitochondria

    • Mitochondria are organelles that are responsible for making adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell's main energy-carrying molecule.
    • These features all support the hypothesis that mitochondria were once free-living prokaryotes.
    • Mitochondria are often called the "powerhouses" or "energy factories" of a cell because they are responsible for making adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell's main energy-carrying molecule.
    • ATP represents the short-term stored energy of the cell.
    • Your muscle cells need a lot of energy to keep your body moving.
  • The Evolution of Mitochondria

    • Mitochondria are energy-producing organelles that are thought to have once been a type of free-living alpha-proteobacterium.
    • Eukaryotic cells contain anywhere from one to several thousand mitochondria, depending on the cell's level of energy consumption.
    • As the amount of oxygen increased in the atmosphere billions of years ago and as successful aerobic prokaryotes evolved, evidence suggests that an ancestral cell with some membrane compartmentalization engulfed a free-living aerobic prokaryote, specifically an alpha-proteobacterium, thereby giving the host cell the ability to use oxygen to release energy stored in nutrients.
    • Alpha-proteobacteria are a large group of bacteria that includes species symbiotic with plants, disease organisms that can infect humans via ticks, and many free-living species that use light for energy.
    • These features all support that mitochondria were once free-living prokaryotes.
  • DNA Replication in Prokaryotes

    • The addition of nucleotides requires energy; this energy is obtained from the nucleotides that have three phosphates attached to them, similar to ATP which has three phosphate groups attached.
    • When the bond between the phosphates is broken, the energy released is used to form the phosphodiester bond between the incoming nucleotide and the growing chain.
    • It also requires a free 3'-OH group to which it can add nucleotides by forming a phosphodiester bond between the 3'-OH end and the 5' phosphate of the next nucleotide.
    • This means that it cannot add nucleotides if a free 3'-OH group is not available.
    • A primer provides the free 3'-OH end to start replication.
  • Endosymbiosis and the Evolution of Eukaryotes

    • Mereschkowski was familiar with work by botanist Andreas Schimper, who had observed in 1883 that the division of chloroplasts in green plants closely resembled that of free-living cyanobacteria.
    • Christian de Duve proposed that they may have been the first endosymbionts, allowing cells to withstand growing amounts of free molecular oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.
    • Modern eukaryotic cells evolved from more primitive cells that engulfed bacteria with useful properties, such as energy production.
  • Cell Structure, Metabolism, and Motility

    • A few protists live as colonies that behave in some ways as a group of free-living cells and in other ways as a multicellular organism.
    • Protists that store energy by photosynthesis belong to a group of photoautotrophs and are characterized by the presence of chloroplasts.
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