AP Biology — Chemistry of Life, Cells & Energetics flashcards
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Units 1–4 of the AP Biology course: water and macromolecules, enzymes, organelles, membranes and water potential, respiration and photosynthesis, cell signaling and cell-cycle control, with applied predict-and-explain prompts in the style of the exam.
Learn deck · part of AP Biology · written against: College Board AP Biology Course and Exam Description (eight units). Updated 2026-10-10.
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Why does water's high specific heat matter for organisms living in a lake?Water's hydrogen bonds must absorb a great deal of heat before the molecules speed up, so the lake's temperature changes slowly and the organisms are buffered against sudden swings.Chemistry of Life › Water
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Which property of water lets a column of water be pulled up a xylem vessel without breaking, and what causes it?Cohesion — water molecules hydrogen-bond to one another, so the tension created by transpiration at the leaves pulls the whole column upward as one continuous chain.Chemistry of Life › Water
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How does an enzyme speed up a reaction without being used up?It lowers the reaction's activation energy by binding the substrates in its active site, straining bonds or holding reactants in the right orientation, and it is released unchanged to catalyze again.Cellular Energetics › Enzymes
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Does an enzyme change the free-energy change (ΔG) of the reaction it catalyzes?No — an enzyme only lowers the activation energy and so speeds up the rate; the free-energy difference between reactants and products, and the position of equilibrium, are unchanged.Cellular Energetics › Enzymes
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Which organelle modifies, sorts and packages proteins received from the endoplasmic reticulum?The Golgi apparatus — vesicles from the rough ER fuse with its receiving (cis) face, the proteins are modified as they pass through the cisternae, and they leave the shipping (trans) face in vesicles bound for the membrane, lysosomes or secretion.Cell Structure › Organelles
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What is the difference in function between rough ER and smooth ER?Rough ER is studded with ribosomes and makes proteins destined for membranes or secretion; smooth ER lacks ribosomes and synthesizes lipids, stores calcium in muscle cells and detoxifies drugs in liver cells.Cell Structure › Organelles
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What are the three stages of cell signaling, in order?Reception (a ligand binds a receptor), transduction (a cascade relays and usually amplifies the signal inside the cell) and response (the cell changes gene expression, enzyme activity or shape).Cell Communication
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Why can a steroid hormone bind a receptor inside the cell while a peptide hormone cannot?Steroids are lipid-soluble and diffuse across the plasma membrane to bind cytoplasmic or nuclear receptors; peptide hormones are large and hydrophilic, so they bind cell-surface receptors and act through second messengers.Cell Communication
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What does the G1 checkpoint assess, and what happens to a cell that does not pass it?At the G1 checkpoint the cell checks its size, nutrient supply, growth signals and DNA integrity before committing to DNA replication; a cell that does not pass is held in G1 until conditions improve or its DNA is repaired, or it exits into the non-dividing G0 state.Cell Cycle
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What are cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases, and how do they drive the cell cycle?Cyclins are regulatory proteins whose levels rise and fall through the cycle; when a cyclin binds its CDK, the complex phosphorylates target proteins that push the cell past a checkpoint, for example into mitosis.Cell Cycle
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Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- OpenStax Biology 2e, consulted as a reference; no text copied.
- Checked against Campbell Biology, 12th ed. (reference only; no text copied).
- Topic coverage follows the published AP Biology course units in the Course and Exam Description effective Fall 2025 (the AP name is used nominatively; no exam or course material reproduced).
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