Biological molecules

• What type of molecule is water?

  Polar molecule caused by an uneven distribution of charge
• What type of reactions occur in water?

  Metabolic reactions
• Perks of water having a high specific heat capacity


  Takes a lot for water temperature to change making it an ideal habitat
• Perks of water having strong cohesion

  High surface tension allowing insects like pond skaters to live on its surface
• List the properties of water

  Strong cohesion, high specific heat capacity, solvent
• What is a monomer?


  Small units that are components of larger molecules
• What is a polymer?

  A molecule made of Monomers joined together.
• What is a condensation reaction?


  Joining of monomers by removing water
• What is a hydrolysis reaction?

  Water added to break bonds between to monomers
• What is a carbohydrate?


  Long chains of sugar units
• What bond is formed between poly/disaccharides

  Glycosidic
• How are glyosidic bonds formed?

  Condensation reaction
• What is glucose?


  Monosaccharide with 6 carbons
• Structure of Alpha glucose

  H on top, OH on bottom
• Structure of Beta glucose


  OH top, H bottom
• Name 3 disaccharides


  Maltose, sucrose, lactose
• How is cellulose formed?

  Condensation of beta glucose
• Glycogen perks


  Large number of branches allowing it to be released quickly when required
• How is glycogen formed?

  glucose joining together with 1,4 and 1,6 glycosdic bonds
• Structure of starch


  Mixture of amylose and amylopectin
• What is starch?


  Store of energy in plants
• What is amylose?


  Unbranched chain of glucose molecules joined by 1,4 glycosidic bonds.
• Structure of amylose


  Coiled, compact can store lots of energy
• What is amylopectin?


  Branched chain of glucose joined by 1,4 and 1,6 glycosidic bonds.
• Structure of amylopectin


  Branched to allow it to be rapidly digested by enzymes to release energy quickly
• What is cellulose?


  Unbranched chains of beta glucose
• Structure of cellulose


  Has microfibrils that are long threads of cellulose chains joined together.
• Saturated Lipids


  found in animal fat, no carbon- carbon double bonds
• Unsaturated lipids


  found in plants, has carbon-carbon double bonds, low melting point
• What is a triglyceride?


  Lipids made of one molecule of glycerol and 3 fatty acids, energy reserve in plants and animals
• How are triglycerides formed?

  Ester bonds
• Structure of phospholipids


  Hydrophilic heads, hydrophobic tails
• Name the inorganic ions

  Hydrogen, Iron, Sodium and Phosphate
• What are proteins formed from

  Amino acids
• What do amino acids contain?

  Amine group (-NH2), carboxylic group (COH) and a unique R group
• How are amino acids joined

  Peptide bond formed in condensation
• Primary protein structure


  Order and number of amino acids
• Secondary structure of proteins

  The shape that the amino acid chain takes. Could be alpha helix, beta pleated sheet.
• Tertiary structure of proteins


  The 3D structure of the protein, whether it is globular or fibrous
• What is a globular protein?


  compact like enzymes