The Big Picture by Sean Carroll

Author:Sean Carroll [Carroll, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-04-22T10:47:12+00:00

The chemical structure of adenosine triphosphate, ATP. It includes atoms of hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and carbon. Following chemical tradition, the carbon atoms aren’t indicated explicitly, but are located at each unlabeled vertex or bend in the diagram.

The release of energy from ATP typically happens in the presence of water (H2O). One of the three phosphates—groups with one phosphorus atom (P) surrounded by oxygen atoms (O), at the left of the diagram—splits off from the ATP, leaving us with adenosine diphosphate (ADP). The phosphate then joins with a hydrogen atom from a nearby water molecule, leaving the remaining OH to combine with the ADP.

The total energy of these final products is less than that of the original ATP molecule; the process thus releases both free energy (to do some useful biochemical work) and disordered energy (heat). Fortunately, ATP is a rechargeable battery; the body then uses an external source of energy, such as sunlight or sugar, to convert the phosphate and ADP back into water and ATP, which is then ready to be put to work once again.

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