Adenosine triphosphate

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Adenosine triphosphate

Systematic name	Adenosine triphosphate
Chemical formula	C₁₀H₁₆N₅O₁₃P₃
Molecular mass	507.2 g/mol507.2 amu
CAS number	15-4-22
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Adenosine triphosphate, also known as ATP, is a complex fundamental energy currency for all life by transferring energy from chemical bonds to energy absorbing reactions in the cell. This multifunctional nucleotide, consists of a nucleoside adenosine along with three linked phosphates.

ATP more specifically has the role of converting low-energy covalent bonds from the nutrients we eat into high-energy bonds in order for most biological reactions to occur. The low energy bonds are not very useful for biological processes, whereas the high energy bonds that release energy when ATP goes to ADP are just right to run biological mechanisms. All known organisms use ATP to power their cells, which avoids each cell needing a special food supply for every different activity.

The supply of ATP must be steady because its lack would kill an organism in a matter of minutes. Poisons like cyanide kill so quickly by blocking processing of ATP according to Bergman ^[1] Bergman cites references that one billion ATP molecules in each cell are each recharged about three times a minute to maintain cell activity. He notes that a human body contains only about 50 grams of ATP, but if it were not continually recharged we would need 400 pounds of ATP to maintain activity for one day at the rate of 2,500 calories per 24 hours.