ENERGY TRANSFER WITHIN LIVING SYSTEMS

As part of this course, you must be knowledgeable about the transfer of

energy between living things and their environment. These notes will give
you an overview of energy transfer among BIOTIC (living) portions of the
environment and between BIOTIC (living) and ABIOTIC (non-living)
portions of the environment.
ENERGY: the potential or ability to do work or cause a change in
something
there are two major categories of energy we will look at
o KINETIC ENERGY:
energy of motion
determined by the mass and speed of an object
as temperature in an area increases, kinetic energy of
particles in that area increases due to the speed of the
particles increasing
this affects processes that rely on kinetic energy,
such as osmosis, as well as states of matter (solid,
liquid, or gas)
as temperature in an area decreases, kinetic energy of
particles in that area decreases due to the speed of the
particles decreasing
this affects processes that rely on kinetic energy,
such as osmosis, as well as states of mater (solid,
liquid, or gas)
o POTENTIAL ENERGY:
energy of position
determined primarily by relative positions of objects, the
forces that might act on those objects (such as gravity),
and the mass of the objects
the higher a given object is, the higher its potential
energy due to the force of gravity (example: a bowling ball
dropped from four feet above the ground has the potential
to do more damage than the same bowling ball dropped
from four inches above the ground)
the lower a given object is, the lower its potential energy
due to the force of gravity (example: a bowling ball
dropped from four inches above the ground has less

potential of doing damage than the same bowling ball

being dropped from four feet above the ground)
CHEMICAL ENERGY: the potential energy stored in
the bonds that hold molecules together; could
be released if those bonds were broken
based on the types of atoms that are bonded
together, their relative positions, and their chemical
characteristics
FOODS are ORGANIC molecules (molecules
that contain carbon and usually hydrogen)
that possess chemical energy
o CALORIES: unit used to measure the
amount of chemical energy stored in the
bonds of a food item
HOW DO ORGANISMS IN THE ENVIRONMENT OBTAIN THEIR
ENERGY?
AUTOTROPHS (PRODUCERS): organisms that are capable of
producing food (organic nutrients) from INORGANIC substances
(substances that lack carbon)
o PHOTOAUTOTROPHS: organisms that capture and store
light energy, during a process known
as PHOTOSYNTHESIS, to produce organic nutrients from
inorganic substances
PLANTS: the major TERRESTRIAL (living on land)
photoautotrophs
ALGAE: the major AQUATIC (living in water)
photoautotrophs
o CHEMOAUTOTROPHS: organisms that utilize and capture
energy other than light (typically heat), during a process
known as CHEMOSYNTHESIS, to produce organic nutrients
from inorganic substances
BACTERIA: bacteria known as chemosynthetic
bacteria are aquatic bacteria that live near areas of
volcanic activity, which provide the heat needed to carry
out CHEMOSYNTHESIS (producing organic nutrients
from inorganic substances without using light
energy)

HETEROTROPHS (CONSUMERS): organisms that must consume

organic nutrients as their source of energy
o categorized based on their DIET (what an organisms
regularly consumes)
HERBIVORES (PRIMARY CONSUMERS): maintain
a DIET of autotrophs (producers) only
CARNIVORES (SECONDARY CONSUMERS): maintain
a DIET of heterotrophs (consumers) only
OMNIVORES: maintain a DIET of both autotrophs
(producers) and heterotrophs (consumers)
DETRITIVORES: basic DIET consists of dead or
decaying matter or waste from other organisms
SCAVENGERS: normal DIET consists of carcasses
(dead bodies) of other organisms
DECOMPOSERS: bacteria and fungi capable of
converting the organic matter in the waste or
remains of an organism into inorganic substances in
the soil

HOW DO ORGANISMS IN THE ENVIRONMENT RELEASE THEIR

ENERGY?
CELL RESPIRATION: process that releases the chemical energy
stored in glucose molecules
o all organisms must perform cell respiration in order to
release the chemical energy they have obtained
whether an organism makes its own organic nutrients
(AUTOTROPHS/PRODUCERS) or obtains organic
nutrients by eating (HETEROTROPHS/CONSUMERS),
the CHEMICAL ENERGY stored in those organic
nutrients must be converted into ATP (the universal
energy molecules used by all cell structures)
glucose cannot be used by all cell structures as a source
of chemical energy
ATP is the universal energy molecule that can be
used by all cell structures
MITOCHONDRIA are cell structures that specialize
in releasing the chemical energy stored in

glucose and using it to produce the universal ATP

energy molecules
CELL RESPIRATION is the process that converts
the chemical energy in glucose molecules into
ATP molecules
o occurs in two separate phases or steps
GLYCOLYSIS (ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION): splitting
of glucose into two halves in order to produce a net
gain of 2 ATP
occurs in the CYTOPLASM (contents of a cell
within the cell membrane)
o all organisms are capable of carrying out
glycolysis since it doesnt require any
specialized cell structures
results in an overall, net gain of 2
ATP molecules for each glucose molecule split
o requires cell to invest 2 ATP molecules
as ACTIVATION ENERGY (energy required
to start a chemical reaction)
o as glucose molecule is broken in half, the
breaking of the glucose bonds releases
enough energy to make 4 ATP molecules
o final summary to calculate a net gain of 2
ATP molecules per glucose molecule
during GLYCOLYSIS:
4 ATP made 2 ATP invested = 2 ATP
gained overall
each half of a glucose can be called
a PYRUVATE molecule
o each PYRUVATE molecule is chemically
modified and enters a cell structure called
the MITOCHONDRION (cell
structure responsible for performing
aerobic cell respiration)
AEROBIC RESPIRATION: breaking down the
products of GLYCOLYSIS (ANAEROBIC
RESPIRATION) within the MITOCHONDRIA in

thepresence of OXYGEN to cause 34 ATP molecules to

be produced
requires the presence of OXYGEN to produce 34
ATP molecules
o when oxygen levels are low, other processes
will occur that are less effective (produce less
ATP)
FERMENTATION
occurs in the MITOCHONDRIA (cell
structure responsible for performing AEROBIC
CELL RESPIRATION)
o a series of processes breaks down what is
left of the original glucose molecule
o each step releases more of the CHEMICAL
ENERGY (potential energy stored in the
bonds of a molecule) that was stored in the
bonds of the glucose molecule
o the energy released during AEROBIC
RESPIRATION is used to assemble
an additional 34 ATP molecules

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON ENERGY IN OUR ENVIRONMENT:

SUNLIGHTS AFFECT ON OUR WEATHER:
o SOLAR ENERGY (light energy from the sun) reaches earth
and causes very important changes to our environment
WEATHER: features of our daily and seasonal weather
are greatly affected by the solar energy reaching earth
TEMPERATURES:
1. hourly temperatures typically fluctuate
throughout the day largely due to the amount
of solar energy reaching earths surface and
heating the land and water
2. average monthly temperatures typically
fluctuate throughout the year due to the
amount of solar energy reaching earths
surface and heating the land and water

WIND CURRENTS:
1. many wind currents are the result of
temperature differences on earths surface
caused by solar heating
WATER CURRENTS:
1. some water currents are caused by
differences in water temperatures that are
directly affected by solar heating