= Energy metabolism
{tag=Metabolism}
<Energy metabolism> comprises reactions that capture, transfer, and use energy to support cellular processes. Oxidation of nutrients can reduce electron carriers and support synthesis of <ATP>, which then couples favorable chemical change to otherwise unfavorable work.
ATP is a transferable chemical intermediate, not a substance that creates energy. In <oxidative phosphorylation>, electron transfer helps establish an electrochemical gradient across a membrane, and ATP synthase uses that gradient. Conservation of energy and the direction of free-energy changes constrain the whole process.
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