Question

if energy is needed to remove a phosphate group from a chain in ATP what will happen?

Answer 1

it's a pretty vague question. What will happen in terms of what exactly?

Answer 2

Life would not exist. ATP is the the cellular unit of energy. The energy released by the ATP --> ADP + P reaction provides energy for biological systems. If this was reversed, it is likely life would have hard a much harder time evolving.

Answer 3

But (activation) energy IS needed to hydrolyze ATP..

Answer 4

@aaronq True, I should have been more specific and accurate. The ∆G of the reaction is a net release of energy, despite the necessity of activation energy.