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Multiple Choice

What happens during ATP hydrolysis?

ATP hydrolysis is the breaking of the terminal phosphate bond by a water molecule, releasing energy that the cell can use. The bond cleavage converts ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate, and a proton is released into the surrounding solution, giving the common form ATP + H2O → ADP + Pi + H+. This reaction is energetically favorable because the high-energy phosphate bond is relieved of electrostatic strain and results in a more stable, resonance-stabilized product (Pi), with the extra energy available to power cellular work. The other scenarios either describe reverse synthesis of ATP (which requires energy input) or involve redox chemistry with NAD+, which is not ATP hydrolysis.

ATP hydrolysis is the breaking of the terminal phosphate bond by a water molecule, releasing energy that the cell can use. The bond cleavage converts ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate, and a proton is released into the surrounding solution, giving the common form ATP + H2O → ADP + Pi + H+. This reaction is energetically favorable because the high-energy phosphate bond is relieved of electrostatic strain and results in a more stable, resonance-stabilized product (Pi), with the extra energy available to power cellular work. The other scenarios either describe reverse synthesis of ATP (which requires energy input) or involve redox chemistry with NAD+, which is not ATP hydrolysis.