Chapter 2 Nucleic Acids Flashcards
name 5 useful properties of water
it is an important metabolite high latent heat of vaporisation buffers changes in temperature good solvent strong cohesion between water molecules
what makes water a good metabolite
many metabolic reactions involve a condensation or hydrolysis reaction
where water is produced as a new bond is formed or used to break an existing bond
why is it important that water is a good metabolite
amino acids are joined together to make polypeptides in condensation reactions
why does water have such high latent heat of vaporisation
it takes a lot of energy to break the hydrogen bonds between water molecules
when water molecules evaporate from a body of water they take a lot of energy with them so the body of water cools down
why is it important that water has such a high latent heat of vaporisation
animals can keep cool by sweating and plants cool down when water evaporates from leaves
why does water have such a high specific heat capacity
the hydrogen bonds between water molecules can absorb a lot of energy so it absorbs a lot of heat energy before a significant change in temperature occurs
why is it important that water has such a high specific heat capacity
it makes aquatic environments great habitats because the temperature is stable
water buffers temperature changes inside our bodies so our internal body temperature is constant
why is water such a good solvent
many compounds are ionic they consist of one positively charged ion and one negatively charged one
because water is polar the positive end of it will attach to the negative end of the compound and vice versa
this means the compound will get surrounded by water molecules and will eventually dissolve
why is it important that water is such a good solvent 2
many reactions inside the body can only happen when the reactants are dissolved in water
dissolved substances like glucose can be transported around the body
why was water molecules so cohesive
they are polar molecules so hydrogen bonds form between the differently charged ends of the molecule
important of waters strong cohesion 2
water flows so it is great for transporting substances
surface tensions means small insects can live on surface
describe the structure of water
the shared hydrogen electrons are pulled to one side of the hydrogen atoms leaving the other side with a slight positive charge
the unshared electrons on the oxygen give it a slight negative charge
the slightly negative oxygen atoms join to the slightly positive hydrogen ones
these are called hydrogen bonds
what is one nucleotide made out of
a pentose sugar
a phosphate group
a nitrogen containing organic base
function of DNA
it stores all the genetic information we need to grow and develop
function of RNA
it transfers genetic information from the nucleus to the ribosomes
what are the four bases in DNA
adenine thymine guanine cytosine
what pentose sugar is found in DNA
deoxyribose
what are the four bases of RNA
adenine uracil guanine cytosine
what pentose sugar is found in RNA
ribose
what is a polynucleotide
a polymer made of numerous nucleotides
how do the sugar base and phosphate group going together
a condensation reaction occurs between the sugar and phosphate group
how is a polynucleotide formed
a condensation reaction occurs between the sugar of one dna group and the phosphate group of another forming a phosphodiester bond
what bond is formed the two nucleotides join
phosphodiester
how are the two strands of DNA held together
hydrogen bonds
