Biology / Bio 0496 · Atom · ~20 seconds
Chemical Equilibrium in an Open System
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A sealed flask's reactions drift toward chemical equilibrium, its lowest free-energy state; a living cell, constantly trading matter with its surroundings, never reaches it.
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A cell constantly imports nutrients and exports wastes, keeping its reactions short of the equilibrium a sealed flask would reach.
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Reaching equilibrium would leave a cell with no free energy for life's work.