Naturally occurring polymers

• What are naturally occurring polymers?

  Polymers that exist naturally in the environment
• What are polymers made of?

  Long chains of smaller molecules called monomers
• What are polypeptides made of?

  Lots of amino acids linked together
• What is DNA made of?

  Nucleotides
• What are carbohydrates made of?

  Only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen
• What do we call the building blocks of proteins?

  Amino acids
• What happens when amino acids combine in a long chain?

  They form a polypeptide
• What do we call a folded polypeptide?

  A protein
• What roles do proteins play in the body?

  Catalyzing reactions and providing structure
• What are the important functional groups in an amino acid?

  A carboxyl group and an amino group
• What is the central atom in an amino acid structure?

  A central carbon
• What is the R group in an amino acid?

  A variable group that changes with each amino acid
• How do amino acids join to form a polymer?

  Through condensation reactions
• What is produced when amino acids join together?

  A water molecule
• What is the bond formed between amino acids called?

  Peptide bond
• What is the general formula for the reaction of amino acids forming a polymer?

  Amino acid + amino acid → repeat unit + H2O
• What are the monomers of DNA called?

  Nucleotides
• What do nucleotides contain?

  A base, sugar, and phosphate group
• How many types of bases are there in DNA?

  Four types
• What are the letters used to represent the bases in DNA?

  T, A, G, and C
• What structure does DNA form?

  A double helix
• What are polysaccharides?

  Polymers made of monosaccharides
• What are monosaccharides commonly known as?

  Sugars
• How can we form starch from glucose?

  By combining glucose molecules together
• What are the key points about naturally occurring polymers?

  • Exist naturally in the environment
  • Made of long chains of monomers
  • Examples include polypeptides, DNA, carbohydrates
• What is the structure and function of amino acids?

  • Contain amino and carboxyl groups
  • Central carbon atom
  • R group varies among amino acids
  • Join through condensation reactions to form proteins
• What is the structure and function of DNA?

  • Made of nucleotides
  • Contains four bases: T, A, G, C
  • Forms a double helix structure
  • Codes for genes through nucleotide sequences
• What are carbohydrates and their types?

  • General term for energy-derived polymers
  • Made of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen
  • Polysaccharides: starch, cellulose, glycogen
  • Monosaccharides: glucose, fructose