The cleavage of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and H3PO4 ma...

The cleavage of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to ADP (adenosine diphosphate) and H₃PO₄ may be written as follows:

It is interesting to determine which bond (the bond marked a or the bond marked b) is cleaved by hydrolysis (reaction with water).

(a) Outline an experiment (using radioactivity) that can be used to determine where the cleavage results.

(b) Describe the results that would lead you to conclude that cleavage results at a.

(c) Describe the results that would lead you to conclude that cleavage results at b.

Results show that the cleavage occurs at b.