Thursday, February 12, 2009

Intro to Energetics


Energy is required to do work. In order to understand the two important energetic processes taking place in living organims (photosynthesis and cellular respiration) it is useful to understand some basics of energetics.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course a fully engaged student should be able to

- give examples of biological work
- list different forms of energy, give examples of the different forms, and give examples of energy conversions
- define the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and discuss why these laws are important for biologists
- discuss electromagnetic energy, including the wavelengths associated with different forms of electromagnetic energy and the relationship between wavelength and energy
- define a photon
- discuss the three things that can happen when a photon of light hits a molecule
- define a pigment
- draw and interpret an absorption spectrum

Further Reading

Electromagnetic radiation- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Electromagnetic_radiation

1 comment:

  1. This is without a doubt the best energetics picture ever.

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