monomers and polymers

• what are organic molecules

  carbon containing molecules
• why is life based on a small number of chemical elements

  in living organisms, there arc relatively few other atoms that attach to carbon.
• examples of monomers


  monosaccharides, amino acids and nucleotides
• what are monomers

  Monomers are small, basic molecular units that can form a polymer.
• what are polymers

  large, complex molecules composed of long chains of monomers joined

  together.
• how are most biological polymers formed

  formed from their monomers by condensation

  reactions. A condensation reaction forms a chemical bond between

  monomers, releasing a molecule of water —
• how are polymers broken down

  broken down into monomers by hydrolysis reactions.

  A hydrolysis reaction breaks the chemical bond between monomers using a

  water molecule
• evidence for evolution

  There is, and has been, a huge variety of different organisms on Earth

  but they all share some biochemistry. They all contain the same groups of

  carbon-based compounds that interact in similar ways — for example, they

  use the same nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) as genetic material and the same

  amino acids to build proteins.

  These similarities suggest that animals and plants have a common

  ancestor
• what is the theory of evolution

  — the theory that all organisms on Earth are descended from one or a few

  common ancestors and that they have changed and diversified over time.