The "high Energy" Phosphate Bond
The energy released in ATP hydrolysis,
- ATP4- + H2O → ADP3- + Pi-
at ΔG -36.8 kJ mol−1 is large by biological standards. Pi stands for inorganic phosphate, which is protonated at biological pH. However, it is not large by inorganic standards. The term "high energy" refers to the fact that it is high relative to the amount of energy released in the organic chemical reactions that can occur in living systems.
Read more about this topic: Polyphosphate
Famous quotes containing the words the high, high, energy and/or bond:
“Behind every individual closes organization; before him opens liberty,—the Better, the Best. The first and worse races are dead. The second and imperfect races are dying out, or remain for the maturing of the higher. In the latest race, in man, every generosity, every new perception, the love and praise he extorts from his fellows, are certificates of advance out of fate into freedom.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“By a high star our course is set,
Our end is Life. Put out to sea.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)
“I have witnessed the tremendous energy of the masses. On this foundation it is possible to accomplish any task whatsoever.”
—Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
“The ideal of men and women sharing equally in parenting and working is a vision still. What would it be like if women and men were less different from each other, if our worlds were not so foreign? A male friend who shares daily parenting told me that he knows at his very core what his wife’s loving for their daughter feels like, and that this knowing creates a stronger bond between them.”
—Anonymous Mother. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 6 (1978)