Energy, Cells, and the Creation of OrderDo you think of yourself as the peaceful, laid-back type? Think again. Every second of your life is a standoff of epic proportions. In fact, your body is try...

You may have figured out that no good standoff, either between biology and physics or you and your folks on Saturday night, can happen without a good amount of energy. What is this biological stand...

Why can't heat energy be easily converted back into another form of energy? Excellent question. This belatedly introduces the first law of thermodynamics. Talk about being late to the party.The fir...

What makes your cells amazing is that they use heat energy to produce order. See what we did there? Brought the biology back full circle—that's Shmoop. One thing that will become clear as we inve...

Looking at Cells Under the Energy MicroscopeWhen we discussed heat and entropy, it became crystal clear that thermodynamics is critically important to cells and cell function. Now, let's take a clo...

We only talk about free energy when it changes (ΔG). Much like how you only talk about your friends when they aren't listening. Basically, ΔG describes the change in useful energy that can be ext...

Enzymes are like the fast-forward button on your DVR remote. They buzz about 24/7 and involve themselves in chemical reactions, yet they always have these two properties:They don't change the therm...

Energy, Cells, and the Creation of OrderSometimes, it is easy to think that energy gets completely used; however, in truth, while one form of energy may disappear, the amount of energy in the unive...

Energy, Cells, and the Creation of OrderWhat is the opposite of anabolism? Is there more or less entropy in the universe today than there was 100 years ago? What type of energy does a car...