Nucleic Acids

• Nucleic acids


  polymers made of nucleotides
• Purines


  larger nucleotide bases (adenine and Guanine)
• Pyrimidines


  smaller nucleotide bases, cytosine, uracil and thymine
• Anti-parallel (DNA)


  the sugar-phosphate 'backbone' of one strand runs in the opposite direction to the other strand
• ATP

  Adenosine triphosphate, respiration releases energy in this form, can lose phosphates - ADP or AMP
• Pi


  phosphate ion, when ATP is hydrolysed
• Cohesive (water)


  attractive forces between negative charged and positive charged pole cause water molecules to cohere (stick together) due to hydrogen bonding
• Specific Heat Capacity (water)


  High because water molecules stick together (4181 J/kg.k), takes more energy to separate them than it would if they weren't bonded to each other, can act as a buffer, takes a lot of energy to change temperature - stable habitat for aquatic organisms
• Latent heat of Vapourisation (water)


  Energy needed to make 1kg of water evaporate, high value, sweating is very effective - water loss is minimal but lots of energy is still transferred to environment, help organisms maintain a constant temperature
• Metabolite (water)


  essential part of hydrolysis + condensation reactions (photosynthesis and respiration)