Naturally Ocurring Polymers

• polymers are long chains of smaller molecules called monomers
• polypeptides are made up of amino acids
• dna is made up of nucleotides
• carbohydrates are made up of sugars
• When a polypeptide folds up or combines with other polypeptides we call it a protein. As there are loads of amino acids that can be combined in many different combinations there are many different proteins.
• Proteins can catalyse chemical reactions as enzymes and provide structure + strength to tissues.
• In an amino acid there is a carboxyl group, and an amino group. These will always be joined together by a central carbon. The 'R' group changes depending on the amino acid.

  
• The OH and H groups allow amino acids to react together and produce water. As a result the carbon and the nitrogen can bond together. This can be called an amide bond or link, or a peptide bond.

  
• In dna the monomers are called nucleotides. They all contain a small molecule called a base, there are 4 types: T A G C. By combining these nucleotides in different orders, they provide different codes for our genes.
• To keep dna codes intact and prevent damage DNA is two polymer strand linked together. This structure coils to make a double helix.
• Carbohydrates refer to a number of different polymers and monomers. They are all made of only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. The polymers -polysaccharides- are starch, cellulose, and glycogen. The monomers -monosaccharides- are glucose and fructose. By combining the monomers together we can make the polymers.
• amino acids are formed by condensation polymerisation