Today we are beginning a new series about nervous communication (the type that happens in animals, not making a speech in front of the class). We will cover the nervous system in a lot of detail over the next few articles, but today we are going to start by looking at receptors. What are receptors? … Read more
Photosynthesis is the process used by plants and other photosynthetic organisms to make their own glucose. The glucose can then go on to be used in respiration, stored as starch, or used in other reactions. Photosynthesis requires light energy, but it is actually only the first stage which is light-dependent. We will focus on the … Read more
In the last article we looked at how enzymes work as biological catalysts. However, there are various factors affecting enzyme activity, and consequently the rate of the reactions they catalyse. Today we will look at the four main factors that influence the rate of enzyme activity. Substrate concentration This one makes quite good sense. If … Read more
In this series we are going to be looking at respiration. This is the process that releases energy from glucose to produce ATP. In the first few articles we'll be focusing on aerobic respiration (which uses oxygen) and then we will cover anaerobic respiration (which doesn't use oxygen) in the last article. Aerobic Respiration Equation … Read more
Today we are looking at adenosine triphosphate, often just abbreviated to ATP because as with most scientific terms, it's a bit of a mouthful. This molecule is very important in providing a quick source of energy for processes in cells. Let's have a closer look at its structure and function. Structure of ATP ATP is … Read more
I believe it is said in meme culture that the mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell. I'm not going to pretend to know why that is a meme, but there is some truth in it. The main function of the mitochondria is to carry out aerobic respiration (except the first stage) which produces adenosine … Read more
