53 Potential, Kinetic, Free, and Activation Energy
53 Potential, Kinetic, Free, and Activation Energy
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:
- Define “energy”
- Explain the difference between kinetic and potential energy
- Discuss the concepts of free energy and activation energy
- Describe endergonic and exergonic reactions
We define energy as the ability to do work. As you’ve learned, energy exists in different forms. For example, electrical energy, light energy, and heat energy are all different energy types. While these are all familiar energy types that one can see or feel, there is another energy type that is much less tangible. Scientists associate this energy with something as simple as an object above the ground. In order to appreciate the way energy flows into and out of biological systems, it is important to understand more about the different energy types that exist in the physical world.
Energy Types
When an object is in motion, there is energy. For example, an airplane in flight produces considerable energy. This is because moving objects are capable of enacting a change, or doing work. Think of a wrecking ball. Even a slow-moving wrecking ball can do considerable damage to other objects. However, a wrecking ball that is not in motion is incapable of performing work. Energy with objects in motion is kinetic energy. A speeding bullet, a walking person, rapid molecule movement in the air (which produces heat), and electromagnetic radiation like light all have kinetic energy.
What if we lift that same motionless wrecking ball two stories above a car with a crane? If the suspended wrecking ball is unmoving, can we associate energy with it? The answer is yes. The suspended wrecking ball has associated energy that is fundamentally different from the kinetic energy of objects in motion. This energy form results from the potential for the wrecking ball to do work. If we release the ball it would do work. Because this energy type refers to the potential to do work, we call it potential energy. Objects transfer their energy between kinetic and potential in the following way: As the wrecking ball hangs motionless, it has 0 kinetic and 100 percent potential energy. Once it releases, its kinetic energy begins to increase because it builds speed due to gravity. Simultaneously, as it nears the ground, it loses potential energy. Somewhere mid-fall it has 50 percent kinetic and 50 percent potential energy. Just before it hits the ground, the ball has nearly lost its potential energy and has near-maximal kinetic energy. Other examples of potential energy include water’s energy held behind a dam (Figure 6.6), or a person about to skydive from an airplane.
We associate potential energy not only with the matter’s location (such as a child sitting on a tree branch), but also with the matter’s structure. A spring on the ground has potential energy if it is compressed; so does a tautly pulled rubber band. The very existence of living cells relies heavily on st