17 ms·
A rate of 10 000 (ten thousand) RPM is mentioned in the video for certain bacteria. My background is in mechanical engineering, does RPM stand for revolutions p
by af78 9mo ago
A rate of 10 000 (ten thousand) RPM is mentioned in the video for certain bacteria. My background is in mechanical engineering, does RPM stand for revolutions per minute here? Sounds unbelievably fast for biochemical processes.
- jcims 9mo agoYep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicase The wild thing is that it doesn't have a 'gas tank' of ATP to drive the reaction, it goes this fast while being fueled one molecule at a time from the environment. Where does the ATP come from? Buckle up my mechanical engineer friend - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5AXGS1aL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5AXGS1aL8 I've watched that video a hundred times and it still gives me chills haha.
- rolph 9mo agothe reactant molecules themselves, are primed with an ATP like a one use capacitor, it provides threshold energy, and is "consumed" as part of the reaction.
- jcims 9mo agoNice. This was a detail I wasn't picking up on for some reason.
- jinnko 9mo agoI remember studying this in detail 30 years ago. To watch that whole process in a video now it's mind blowing. Thank you.
- timschmidt 9mo agoI find that a good rule is that the smaller the system, the faster the interactions. Also you may be interested in flagellar motors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSm9gJkPxU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSm9gJkPxU