Biology 101 - Matter and Energy Vocabulary

Energy

Ability to do work

Chemical Bond

Interaction between 2+ of the same or different atoms that results in forming molecules

Autotroph

Organism that produces organic molecules from small inorganic compounds

Phototroph

Organism that is able to make its own food by converting solar energy to chemical energy

Chemotroph

Organism that obtains energy from chemical compounds

Heterotroph

Organism that obtains energy from organic molecules

Herbivore

Animal that consumes a strictly plant diet

Carnivore

Animal that consumes animal flesh

Detrivore

Animal that consumes dead organic material

Chlorophyll

Green pigment that captures the light energy that drives the light reactions of photosynthesis

ATP

Adenosine triphosphate, the cell’s energy currency

ADP

Adenosine diphosphate, formed when ATP releases energy by losing a phosphate group through hydrolysis

Electron Transport

Group of proteins between PSII and PSI that pass energized electrons and use the energy released by the electrons to move hydrogen ions agaisnt their concentration gradient into the thylakoid lumen

Anabolism

Pathways that require an energy input to synthesize complex molecules from simpler ones

Catabolism

Pathways in which complex molecules break down into simpler ones

Mitochondria

Cellular organelles responsible for carrying out cellular respiration, resulting in producing ATP, the cell’s main energy-carrying molecule

Chloroplast

Plant cell organelle that carries out photosynthesis