In school I learned how, when cells need energy, ATP releases it. Supposedly, there is now a chunk of energy floating around in the cell? What is this “energy”? What is it made of? How does it get from the mitochondria way over to the part of the cell that needed it? How does it get put to use? I feel like school is leaving out a huge amount of important information.
EDIT:
So far, the answers boil down to:
1) When cells need energy, ATP releases it.
2) Our cells figure out how to get the energy where it needs to go, somehow.
3) You’re not allowed to know the answer until you go to college, sorry.
Um… thanks?
In: 4
>Supposedly, there is now a chunk of energy floating around in the cell?
No, energy doesn’t exist as its own thing. Energy is a property of other things, how fast they move, or how much “force” is stored in their chemical bounds.
In your body all energy is stored in chemical form (for example ATP) until it’s needed to do a job. That job is usually a chemical reaction that is enabled by powering it with that energy. For example a reaction that makes your muscle cells contract to move your arm. ATP is how that energy is transported, basically a fuel that is burned in reactions within the cell.
The details involve a lot of convoluted chemistry, wich is why school leaves it out until you decide to major in this field.
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