1 Biological Molecules: Monomers and Polymers Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is an amino acid?
-A monomer which makes up proteins
-Central carbon atom bonded to a carboxylic acid group, a hydrogen atom and an R group
What is a condensation reaction?
- chemical process in which two molecules combine to form more complex one with elimination of a simple substance ( usually water)
- many biological polymers (e.g polysaccharides + polypeptides) are formed by this reaction
What is a covalent bond?
- a chemical bond in which 2 atoms share a pair of electrons
What is a hydrolysis reaction?
-The breaking down of large molecules into smaller molecules by addition of water molecules
What is a monomer?
-one of many small molecules that combine to form a molecule
- smaller units
What is a monosaccharide?
- a single sugar
-monomers of long chain carbohydrate polymers
What are nucleotides?
- a compound consisting of an organic base and a ribose sugar linked to a phosphate group
-form monomers of nucleic acids such as DNA
What is an organic molecule and what are the four classes?
- molecules containing carbon that can found in living things
- carbohydrates , proteins , lipids and nucleic acids
What do the molecules of all life contain?
- oxygen
- hydrogen
- carbon
- nitrogen
- phosphorus
- sulfur
What is a carbohydrate?
- a respiratory substrate
-provide energy for cells
-used for structure in cell membranes and cell walls in plants
What is a lipid?
- can be used as respiratory substrates
- form bilayer in cel membranes and make up some hormones
What is a protein?
- main component of many cellular structures
- form enzymes
- chemical messengers
What is a nucleic acid?
- form polymers (DNA + RNA)
-make up genetic material of organisms - code for the sequence of amino acids which make up all proteins
How many amino acids are in the body?
- 20 amino acids
What is a polymer?
- lots of repeating units ( monomers) joined together
What happens during a condensation reaction?
- monomers joined by removal of OH from one monomer and the removal of H from the other ( at site of bond formation)
- the monomers are linked by a covalent bond
What happens during a hydrolysis reaction?
- the covalent bond between the two monomers breaks, separating them
- a water molecule is used to separate them
What are the monomers of carbohydrates with examples?
- monosaccharides
- glucose, fructose , galactose
What are the monomers of proteins?
- amino acids
What are the monomers of nucleic acids?
- nucleotides
What Is the covalent bond in a carbohydrate?
- glycosidic bond
What is the covalent bond in a protein?
- peptide bond
What is the covalent bond in a nucleic acid?
- phosphodiester bond
What is the polymer of carbohydrates?
- polysaccharide
