Chapter 6 Lecture Enrichment Ideas


  • Explain what happens to the heat that is released from energy transfers on earth. The greenhouse effect is only a temporary storage of energy.
  • Describe how life can be so organized when the level of entropy in the universe continues to increase. The universe as a whole contains more entropy, while an individual cell, organism, or ecosystem must be considered as an open system that requires a continuous energy input to maintain its organization.
  • Explain how an enzyme can lower the activation energy for a reaction and why there is an energy of activation even for a spontaneous reaction.
  • Demonstrate how changes in various conditions and inhibitors can affect the structure of an enzyme and thus its ability to interact with a substrate to catalyze the enzymatic reaction.
  • Discuss why vitamins are required only in small amounts and how they are active in the cell.
  • Explain how coupled reactions using ATP allow reactions that require energy input to take place in the cell under conditions that are compatible with life.


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