Editing Metabolism (section)

==Thermodynamics of living organisms==
{{further|Biological thermodynamics}}
Living organisms must obey the [[laws of thermodynamics]], which describe the transfer of heat and [[work (thermodynamics)|work]]. The [[second law of thermodynamics]] states that in any [[isolated system]], the amount of [[entropy]] (disorder) cannot decrease. Although living organisms' amazing complexity appears to contradict this law, life is possible as all organisms are [[open system (systems theory)|open systems]] that exchange matter and energy with their surroundings. Living systems are not in [[Thermodynamic equilibrium|equilibrium]], but instead are [[dissipative system]]s that maintain their state of high complexity by causing a larger increase in the entropy of their environments.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = von Stockar U, Liu J | title = Does microbial life always feed on negative entropy? Thermodynamic analysis of microbial growth | journal = Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics | volume = 1412 | issue = 3 | pages = 191–211 | date = August 1999 | pmid = 10482783 | doi = 10.1016/S0005-2728(99)00065-1 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The metabolism of a cell achieves this by coupling the [[spontaneous process]]es of catabolism to the non-spontaneous processes of anabolism. In [[non-equilibrium thermodynamics|thermodynamic]] terms, metabolism maintains order by creating disorder.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Demirel Y, Sandler SI | title = Thermodynamics and bioenergetics | journal = Biophysical Chemistry | volume = 97 | issue = 2–3 | pages = 87–111 | date = June 2002 | pmid = 12050002 | doi = 10.1016/S0301-4622(02)00069-8 | s2cid = 3754065 | url = https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=chemengthermalmech | access-date = 22 September 2019 | archive-date = 4 August 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200804002615/https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=chemengthermalmech | url-status = live }}</ref>