Zack Stone
Professor Macosko
FYS
March 24, 2008
Truckin’
Our story begins inside of one of the body’s most fascinating structures: the cell. Each and every one of you reading this has millions and millions of these tiny cells throughout your body. Within these cells, processes take place that break down the food you eat into energy to help you run and play with friends. This story follows the journey of a tiny hydrogen ion, a phosphate, and an ADP molecule on their quest to make your bodies run and play.
Driver was a one tough hydrogen ion. A towering ion, standing 1 nanometer high with burly shoulders, a big beard, and a can of Skoal in his back pocket, Driver was not an ion to mess around with. Long microseconds of traveling down the electron transport chain expressway had turned the once cheerful ion into a bitter open-road hard case, but the one thing he loved most still remained faithful to him through the long nights on the road. His big, loud, and powerful truck never seemed to fail him. With its tall smokestacks, chrome girl mud flaps, and black smoke blowing diesel engine, Driver’s truck (named Polished Steel) was a sight to see barreling down that electron transport chain expressway. Yes sir, let me tell you, they made a fantastic team. Teamwork is exactly what they would need too, because with the rising sun Driver and his faithful truck would be racing against time to make an important delivery to the ATP Synthase factory.
After fixing himself a pot of coffee in the morning, Driver began his pre-trip inspection of Polished Steel. The tires were good, the engine was working hard and loud as ever, the chrome exhaust stacks were shining like the very sun rising in the East, but something wasn’t quite right about the trailer. As he looked around the trailer, he noticed that several negatively charged chloride ions had attached themselves to the trailer after a load had been delivered at the sight of a hydrogen chloride breakdown. After clearing the renegade ions off of his trailer, Driver saddled up and began driving down the electron transport chain expressway. After passing through several cities, he finally arrived at the proton pump weight station that would allow him to enter the bypass route heading towards the ATP Synthase factory. This proton pump weight station was no ordinary weight station however. While Driver was getting his truck and trailer weighed, weigh station managers began attaching chains to the truck tires. When Driver asked why these chains were being attached to his vehicle, the managers looked back and smiled saying, “Trust us, you’ll need them to make it up the concentration gradient. It’s a treacherous mountain pass that will require the use of these chains for added traction. We’ll also tune your engine up a little to give you some added torque. Good luck son.” The chains, as Driver later found out, had been donated by other hydrogen ion truck drivers who didn’t need to make the pass through the mountains. As Driver prepared to disembark up the mountain pass, he took a moment to consider the risks involved with such a treacherous undertaking. He knew that the factory needed him, and regardless of what happened, he felt that what he was doing was right. The station managers then unhooked the truck from the weight station, and not a moment sooner, Polished Steel with Driver at its helm began charging up the mountain towards the factory gates.
This ATP Synthase factory was a spectacular sight for hydrogen ion truckers to see. Composed of a large, spinning top and a stationary base, the hydrogen ions would enter through its gates to make their deliveries. Once they were through the gates, the ions would hook their trucks up to a moving conveyer belt to help power the spinning top of the factory. After making a loop on the conveyer belt, the trucks were unhooked from the factory and allowed to exist from another side of the factory. Truckers are constantly pulling into this factory to help keep it rotating. It was this ATP Synthase factory that Driver was hoping to reach before sun down, but before making it to the factory, Driver had to pass through the proton pump weigh station.
Driver’s trip was as long as it was tough. Fighting against the high winds and dense snow fall of the concentration gradient wasn’t an easy task, even for an ion driver as experienced as Driver. Fortunately for Driver, the tire chains and engine upgrades provided to him by previous hydrogen ion drivers helped him gain traction and deliver enough power to make up the concentration gradient mountain pass. At the top of the pass, Driver saw the opened gates of the factory and pulled into line behind the other ion drivers just as the sun begins sinking westward in the sky. Driver made it, and he was now able to park his vehicle on the factory’s rotating assembly to help provide energy to the rest of the factory. Our story does not end here however; we still need to find out what happens within the large, spinning ATP Synthase factory.
With Driver’s job being completed, he begins his long trip home, and we turn our attention to the workings of the ATP Synthase factory. Within this factory, we find several fascinating new characters. One of these characters is Big Mack, the old ADP truck that has been moving around the cell with not much to do. His engine has logged many nanometers of travel and has taken its fair share of abuse as well. Big Mack, once at his prime, has become something of a relic, and this was beginning to weigh heavily on his mind. Not knowing what to do to feel young again, Big Mack fell into a bout of depression until he heard about this ATP Synthase factory from some of the local hydrogen ion truckers. “But I’m not a hydrogen ion trucker,” he told them. “I’m just an ADP truck. I can’t be of any service to this factory.” The hydrogen ion truckers just laughed and told Big Mack, “You can’t provide energy to the factory like we do, but the factory itself was designed to turn less useful machines like you into more powerful trucks then even us.” Intrigued by the idea of becoming young once more, Big Mack set his sights on the ATP Synthase factory and drove several microseconds until finally reaching the front gates. What he saw was a very intimidating sight. A large, rotating top resembling a piece of broccoli stood before him with a long line of ADP trucks waiting to enter the factory. Rumors quickly spread through the lines of trucks about what went on inside the giant spinning broccoli head. Some trucks said it put new tires on the trucks, some said it added a faster engine, and still others said it would destroy you altogether. Needless to say, this last rumor made Big Mack slightly uneasy as he got closer and closer to the front of the line. Finally making his way into the factory, Big Mack was relieved to discover that he would not in fact be destroyed and used for scrap. The big rotating top had four ports that Big Mack could drive into. Depending on the rotation, three of the four ports were closed off and the ADP trucks would be forced to enter the one open port. Big Mack was no exception. As soon as he entered the factory, he was forced into the open port and it was in there that he received his upgrade. Big Mack’s rusty old engine was removed and replaced by a phosphate turbo engine capable of producing five times as much power. Immediately Big Mack could feel the surge in power, and to make things even better, his old paint job was replaced with a fresh coat of bright yellow with lightning decals. No longer was Big Mack an ADP truck. After his transformation, Big Mack had become an ATP truck. The added “T” meant that he had extra power, greater efficiency, and greater use throughout the body. No longer did Big Mack feel bored and useless. With his flashy new paint job, new added phosphate engine and a new outlook on life, Big Mack left the ATP Synthase factory and began powering around the cell providing much needed energy to the cell’s vital machines. The End.
Through the stories of both Driver the hydrogen ion and Big Mack the ADP truck, you can see the basics of how ATP Synthase works. By using hydrogen ions pushed against their concentration gradient (Driver going up the mountain pass), ATP Synthase is able to power the synthesis of ADP + Phosphate into ATP (Big Mack receiving his phosphate turbo engine). Despite being one of the most complicated molecular machines, a simple children’s story is sometimes all that is needed to get a basic description of how the machine works and operates.
Works Cited
"ATP Synthase." Davidson College. 10 Feb. 2008.
Farabee, M J. "ATP and Biological Energy." Estrella Mountain Community College. 10 Feb. 2008.
Professor Macosko
FYS
March 24, 2008
Truckin’
Our story begins inside of one of the body’s most fascinating structures: the cell. Each and every one of you reading this has millions and millions of these tiny cells throughout your body. Within these cells, processes take place that break down the food you eat into energy to help you run and play with friends. This story follows the journey of a tiny hydrogen ion, a phosphate, and an ADP molecule on their quest to make your bodies run and play.
Driver was a one tough hydrogen ion. A towering ion, standing 1 nanometer high with burly shoulders, a big beard, and a can of Skoal in his back pocket, Driver was not an ion to mess around with. Long microseconds of traveling down the electron transport chain expressway had turned the once cheerful ion into a bitter open-road hard case, but the one thing he loved most still remained faithful to him through the long nights on the road. His big, loud, and powerful truck never seemed to fail him. With its tall smokestacks, chrome girl mud flaps, and black smoke blowing diesel engine, Driver’s truck (named Polished Steel) was a sight to see barreling down that electron transport chain expressway. Yes sir, let me tell you, they made a fantastic team. Teamwork is exactly what they would need too, because with the rising sun Driver and his faithful truck would be racing against time to make an important delivery to the ATP Synthase factory.
After fixing himself a pot of coffee in the morning, Driver began his pre-trip inspection of Polished Steel. The tires were good, the engine was working hard and loud as ever, the chrome exhaust stacks were shining like the very sun rising in the East, but something wasn’t quite right about the trailer. As he looked around the trailer, he noticed that several negatively charged chloride ions had attached themselves to the trailer after a load had been delivered at the sight of a hydrogen chloride breakdown. After clearing the renegade ions off of his trailer, Driver saddled up and began driving down the electron transport chain expressway. After passing through several cities, he finally arrived at the proton pump weight station that would allow him to enter the bypass route heading towards the ATP Synthase factory. This proton pump weight station was no ordinary weight station however. While Driver was getting his truck and trailer weighed, weigh station managers began attaching chains to the truck tires. When Driver asked why these chains were being attached to his vehicle, the managers looked back and smiled saying, “Trust us, you’ll need them to make it up the concentration gradient. It’s a treacherous mountain pass that will require the use of these chains for added traction. We’ll also tune your engine up a little to give you some added torque. Good luck son.” The chains, as Driver later found out, had been donated by other hydrogen ion truck drivers who didn’t need to make the pass through the mountains. As Driver prepared to disembark up the mountain pass, he took a moment to consider the risks involved with such a treacherous undertaking. He knew that the factory needed him, and regardless of what happened, he felt that what he was doing was right. The station managers then unhooked the truck from the weight station, and not a moment sooner, Polished Steel with Driver at its helm began charging up the mountain towards the factory gates.
This ATP Synthase factory was a spectacular sight for hydrogen ion truckers to see. Composed of a large, spinning top and a stationary base, the hydrogen ions would enter through its gates to make their deliveries. Once they were through the gates, the ions would hook their trucks up to a moving conveyer belt to help power the spinning top of the factory. After making a loop on the conveyer belt, the trucks were unhooked from the factory and allowed to exist from another side of the factory. Truckers are constantly pulling into this factory to help keep it rotating. It was this ATP Synthase factory that Driver was hoping to reach before sun down, but before making it to the factory, Driver had to pass through the proton pump weigh station.
Driver’s trip was as long as it was tough. Fighting against the high winds and dense snow fall of the concentration gradient wasn’t an easy task, even for an ion driver as experienced as Driver. Fortunately for Driver, the tire chains and engine upgrades provided to him by previous hydrogen ion drivers helped him gain traction and deliver enough power to make up the concentration gradient mountain pass. At the top of the pass, Driver saw the opened gates of the factory and pulled into line behind the other ion drivers just as the sun begins sinking westward in the sky. Driver made it, and he was now able to park his vehicle on the factory’s rotating assembly to help provide energy to the rest of the factory. Our story does not end here however; we still need to find out what happens within the large, spinning ATP Synthase factory.
With Driver’s job being completed, he begins his long trip home, and we turn our attention to the workings of the ATP Synthase factory. Within this factory, we find several fascinating new characters. One of these characters is Big Mack, the old ADP truck that has been moving around the cell with not much to do. His engine has logged many nanometers of travel and has taken its fair share of abuse as well. Big Mack, once at his prime, has become something of a relic, and this was beginning to weigh heavily on his mind. Not knowing what to do to feel young again, Big Mack fell into a bout of depression until he heard about this ATP Synthase factory from some of the local hydrogen ion truckers. “But I’m not a hydrogen ion trucker,” he told them. “I’m just an ADP truck. I can’t be of any service to this factory.” The hydrogen ion truckers just laughed and told Big Mack, “You can’t provide energy to the factory like we do, but the factory itself was designed to turn less useful machines like you into more powerful trucks then even us.” Intrigued by the idea of becoming young once more, Big Mack set his sights on the ATP Synthase factory and drove several microseconds until finally reaching the front gates. What he saw was a very intimidating sight. A large, rotating top resembling a piece of broccoli stood before him with a long line of ADP trucks waiting to enter the factory. Rumors quickly spread through the lines of trucks about what went on inside the giant spinning broccoli head. Some trucks said it put new tires on the trucks, some said it added a faster engine, and still others said it would destroy you altogether. Needless to say, this last rumor made Big Mack slightly uneasy as he got closer and closer to the front of the line. Finally making his way into the factory, Big Mack was relieved to discover that he would not in fact be destroyed and used for scrap. The big rotating top had four ports that Big Mack could drive into. Depending on the rotation, three of the four ports were closed off and the ADP trucks would be forced to enter the one open port. Big Mack was no exception. As soon as he entered the factory, he was forced into the open port and it was in there that he received his upgrade. Big Mack’s rusty old engine was removed and replaced by a phosphate turbo engine capable of producing five times as much power. Immediately Big Mack could feel the surge in power, and to make things even better, his old paint job was replaced with a fresh coat of bright yellow with lightning decals. No longer was Big Mack an ADP truck. After his transformation, Big Mack had become an ATP truck. The added “T” meant that he had extra power, greater efficiency, and greater use throughout the body. No longer did Big Mack feel bored and useless. With his flashy new paint job, new added phosphate engine and a new outlook on life, Big Mack left the ATP Synthase factory and began powering around the cell providing much needed energy to the cell’s vital machines. The End.
Through the stories of both Driver the hydrogen ion and Big Mack the ADP truck, you can see the basics of how ATP Synthase works. By using hydrogen ions pushed against their concentration gradient (Driver going up the mountain pass), ATP Synthase is able to power the synthesis of ADP + Phosphate into ATP (Big Mack receiving his phosphate turbo engine). Despite being one of the most complicated molecular machines, a simple children’s story is sometimes all that is needed to get a basic description of how the machine works and operates.
Works Cited
"ATP Synthase." Davidson College. 10 Feb. 2008
Farabee, M J. "ATP and Biological Energy." Estrella Mountain Community College. 10 Feb. 2008
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