Why can glucose be oxidised more rapidly to produce energy, than fat?
I don't know if this is a Biology question but it came up while I was doing chem so sorry if I've posted in the wrong section.
You won't need this for VCE chem, but it probably has something to do with how effective our enzymes are at catalysing each reaction step. Fats and glucose undergo slightly different metabolic processes, but both enter the citric acid cycle at the same place, as acetyl CoA
On pg 186 of the heinemann textbook, it states that the CH2OH groups on adjacent glucose monomers in starch are on the same side of the polymer chain, while in cellulose, they are on alternating sides. What effect does this have? In regards to the strength of the compound?
Enzymes require a very specific substrate for those to fit in the active site. Moving one of the CH2OH groups to the other side changes the shape of the molecule and thus affects the bonding between cellulose and our starch/glycogen hydrolysis enzymes. As it turns out, our enzymes are ineffective here.
As for the strength of the compound, I'm not too sure on this myself; it may well indirectly affect how the glucose monomers bond to form the cellulose polymer. Perhaps with this particular form of glucose, it prefers to form long linear chains, whereas with the form of glucose found in glycogen, the glucose can branch out. I'm not sure if cellulose is any stronger than starch in terms of intermolecular forces, but cellulose is certainly more regular; the uniformity of the hydrogen bonding may allow cellulose to pack together better.
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