Laws of thermodynamics in living systems Transitional Reasoning Download PDF

Questions

1. 1.

   A researcher monitoring a growing culture of aerobic bacteria notes that as simple sugars and mineral ions are assembled into complex proteins and nucleic acids, the intracellular entropy of the bacterial cells decreases. Despite this continuous generation of highly ordered structures, the bacterial population fully complies with the laws of thermodynamics. Which statement explains why living cells conform to thermodynamic principles during such constructive metabolic processes?

   • A) Cells function as isolated thermodynamic systems that can temporarily reverse entropy independently of their environment.
   • B) Cells are open systems that maintain internal order by releasing heat and metabolic waste to increase the entropy of their surroundings.
   • C) Cells destroy unusable energy during anabolic reactions to prevent thermal equilibrium with the external medium.
   • D) Cells carry out enzymatic transformations with complete efficiency, ensuring that no thermal energy is dispersed into the universe.