Flashcards in Chapter 2 Deck (15):
1
Why is a rock not food? Or a Cessna 150?
Do not provide nutritional needs
2
So, exactly what IS food?
any material substance that contains nutritional resources for the body
3
Plants and photosynthetic plankton produce chains of carbon. Where does the carbon come from
CO2 atmosphere
4
What is the first trick in making food, and what is the biochemical operation that does it?
Snapping Carbon Atoms Together , photosynthesis
5
What is the general reaction equation for photosynthesis?
Co2 + h2o+ light reorganize to make fixed carbon + o2
Carbon dioxide plus water plus sunlight reorganize to make fixed carbon (chains of carbon) and molecular oxygen.
6
Photosynthesis consumes three different environmental resources. What are they and where does the plant get them from?
Carbon Dioxide Gas from the atmosphere
H2o from roots water
Light from the sun
7
What good are sugar molecules?
they are good at storing chemical energy for moderate amounts of time
8
Why do starchy foods such as bread, rice, and potatoes taste so good?
starch is very easy to digest rapidly available to any living thing for energy extraction.
9
What are two examples of polymers made out of glucose?
Starch
Cellulose
10
What is cellulose, and how do plants put it to use?
surplus glucose molecules, very robust
structural properties
Plants use cellulose to
make structurally strong
cell walls around newly-
synthesized cells
11
Why does wood burn?
wood is made of cellulose, and cellulose is made of glucose, and glucose stores chemical energy Fire represents the rapid release of the chemical energy that is stored in cellulose.
12
If wood is made from glucose, why don't we eat the wood as food?
It is hard to digest. Some animals can do it by using interesting biochemical tricks
13
How does biosynthesis make an amino acid out of a short carbon chain?
replace one carbon atom in propane with a nitrogen atom; and then add a couple of oxygen atoms,
14
How do plants get the nitrogen to make amino acids?
dissolved salt from the soil
15