What is ATP?

Join the Amoeba Sisters in this short video to explore what ATP is, how ATP is made, and how ATP can work! While this short video just covers the basics, check out further reading description to explore more.

Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
0:40 Some Examples of ATP Uses in Cell Processes
1:14 What is ATP?
1:52 How do we get ATP?
3:05 How does ATP work?

Note: We received an excellent comment in an older video (about cellular respiration) that we want to also provide here. So while we- and many biology sources- mention the ATP bond breakdown (ATP hydrolysis) as an energy releasing event, this can lead to a misconception if just isolating the phosphate bond breaking alone. In ATP hydrolysis, energy is released in this exergonic reaction, but the reaction involves both the breaking and making of bonds. Energy is needed to BREAK the phosphate bond in ATP, but it is not as much as the energy released when new bonds are made.

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Factual References Checked for Video:

Reece, J. B., & Campbell, N. A. (2011). Campbell biology. Boston: Benjamin Cummings / Pearson.

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FURTHER READING SUGGESTIONS

Note: Remember, our video is just an introduction. To understand more about how ATP functions, check out these further reading suggestions that go into the chemistry that our video does not go into.

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MUSIC:
Our intro music designed and performed by Jeremiah Cheshire.

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TRANSLATIONS:

Thank you so much to our translators!!
Huge thank you to:
Aileen Aisyah M. for Indonesian subtitles!
and
Alisha Aggarwal for Hindi Subtitles!

[AmoebaSisters]

Pinned Note: We received an excellent comment in an older video (about cellular respiration) that we want to *also* provide here. So while we- and many biology sources- mention the ATP bond breakdown (ATP hydrolysis) as an energy releasing event, this can lead to a misconception if just isolating the phosphate bond breaking alone. In ATP hydrolysis, energy is released in this exergonic reaction, but the reaction involves both the breaking and making of bonds. Energy is needed to BREAK the phosphate bond in ATP, but it is not as much as the energy released when new bonds are made.

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