Bioenergetics

Photosynthesis: Carbon dioxide + water -------> Oxygen + glucose

6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2

 This is an endothermic reaction, which means that it takes in heat
 Plants change glucose into starch to store it
 This is because starch is an insoluble polymer made out of the soluble
monomer, glucose
Testing a leaf for starch
 Remove the leaf with its stalk from the plant
 Remove the black disk
 Using forceps, carefully dip the leaf into hot water for two minutes
 Carefully roll up the leaf loosely and place in a boiling tube
 Cover the leaf in ethanol
 Place the boiling tube into a water bath for 10 minutes (60C)
 Remove the leaf and rinse with cold water
 Place the leaf on a white tile, underside up
 Cover the leaf with iodine solution and leave for 2 minutes
 Starch should only be present in places without the disk
The leaf is boiled to soften the cell walls
The leaf is placed in ethanol the chlorophyll
The leaf loses its green colour when it is put in ethanol
Leaf is placed underside up because there is no waxy cuticle on the bottom
Glucose
Glucose: - respiration to make energy
- converted to starch for storage
- used to make cellulose for cell walls
- converts to amino acids when combined with nitrogen

 Cellulose is found in cell walls

 Starch is insoluble so it will not dissolve, this makes it a suitable storage
compound for plants
 Amino acids are used to construct proteins(nitrates)
 A plant lacking in nitrates will be smaller as it will have less protein
 A plant deficient in magnesium will look yellow because it will have less
chlorophyll
RP6
- Use pondweed
- Put plant in sodium hydrogen carbonate to add carbon dioxide
- The stem of the plant was cut at an angle so that there is a steady
stream of bubbles
- Rop is measure by counting the bubbles
- Better to use LED light because it gives off little heat
- Turn off overhead lights os that it does not affect the test
- Wait for a few minutes before counting the bubbles so the plant can
adjust to the light
- Source of error is assuming that the bubbles have same volume
Conclusion: as the light intensity decreases so does the rate of photosynthesis.
When the light was at 10cm there were 40 bubbles but when the light was at
40cm there were only 5 bubbles.
Limiting factors
The law of limiting factors;sss
When a process depends on two or more factors, the rate of that process is
limited by the factor which is in shortest supply
Anaerobic respiration
Fermentation: anaerobic respiration in yeasts and plants
Glucose  ethanol + carbon dioxide
Releases little energy

Glycogen  way of storing glucose

Explain what happens to the body when we exercise:
- The heart rate increases to allow more oxygen to be carried to cells
- Heart rate increases to allow more glucose to be carried to cells
- Heart rate increases to allow more carbon dioxide to be carried away
from cells
- Breathing rate increases to get more oxygen into the body

Metabolism
- This is the term given to the sum of all the reaction in a cell or the body
- It varies from person to person even if you are the same age, gender etc.
- The higher your metabolism, the more energy you use
Metabolism is the sum of all the reactions in a cell or the body
Reactions:
- Conversion of glucose to starch and cellulose/glycogen
- Formation of lipids from a molecule of glycerol
- The combination of glucose with nitrate ions to make amino acids
 - The joining together of amino acids to form proteins
- The breakdown of excess amino acids in the liver to form urea
- Respiration

- Your muscles contract more to move your limbs

- Muscles need energy to contract
- So muscle cells need to respire more to release more energy from
glucose
- To provide this glucose, you need to eat more food
- Exercise increases the amount of energy expended by the body, so
metabolic rate is increased
Role of the liver
Liver cells grow and regenerate themselves very rapidly
The liver is a very active organ with many different metabolic functions
These include:
- Detoxifying poisonous substances such as the ethanol from alcoholic
drinks
- Passing the breakdown products into the blood so they can be excreted
in the urine via the kidneys
- Breaking down the old, worn out blood cells and storing iron until it is
needed to synthesise more blood cells
Removing lactic acid
- One important role of the liver is in dealing with the lactic acid produced
by the muscles during anaerobic respiration
- Blood flowing through the muscles transports the lactic acid into the
liver where it is converted back into glucose
- The oxygen debt is repaid once the lactic acid has been converted back
into glucose
- If it isn’t needed the glucose made from the lactic acid may be converted
to glycogen and stored in the liver until it is needed