Bio A - Biochemistry
Chemistry of Life notes
Organic Molecules: ____________________________________; can contain other elements too;
- IF THEY ARE ONLY C AND H then they can ALSO be called ______________________.
What is so cool about carbon?
Carbon has __________________ valence electrons which means it can form 4 bonds AND can bond with
itself.
- This means it can form long chains, rings, branched chains and many other molecules
Inorganic molecules: ___________________________________________________________________
WATER: most essential inorganic molecule
 Body is 65- 75% water on average
 More water in fat or muscle?? ____________Why? ________________________________________
 More water in Males or females?? _________Why? _______________________________________
Functions of water:
 Solvent: _______________________
 Medium: where the chemical reactions happen
 Moistens Surfaces: _____________________________________________________
 Temperature Regulation: ________________________________________________
 Cushion - Brain in skull;
 Transportation: moves nutrients and other materials through the body (blood is mostly water!)
 Lubrication: in your Joints; prevent bones from scraping
 Hydrolysis: type of chemical reaction that uses water to break apart large molecules
 Sense Organs: ________________________________________
Important minerals: Where are they important?
Bio A - Biochemistry
Iron:
Calcium and phosphorous:
Sodium, potassium and Chlorine:
Iodine:
 Function of minerals: _________________________________________________
o act as a pH buffer
o aid in structure of cells and the body
The organic molecules we will study are known as _______________________________
Macro means _____________
- made up of many small molecules linked together to form one big molecule
- _____________________________________________________
- _____________________________________________________
Nutritional Compounds: These Macromolecules are what provide us with ENERGY AND NUTRIENTS
__________________________________________________________
Calorie (in chemistry) is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree
Celsius; 1 food calorie = 1000 chemistry calories = 1 kilocalorie
So if we eat 100 calories, it means our body gets 100 kCal of energy from that food!
We will study the four major classes of macromolecules: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins and Nucleic acids
CARBOHYDRATES:
The monomer of a carbohydrate is called a _________________________________
What elements are carbohydrates made of? ___________________________________
What shape do these molecules have? _______________________________________
Define:
Dissaccharide: _____________________________________________________________
Bio A - Biochemistry
Polysaccharide: ____________________________________________________________
Dehydration synthesis: A chemical reaction that _____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
-
2H’s and an O have to be removed from the reactants to connect them. These atoms then become
__________________. This same reaction will be used to build carbs, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids
Below is the dehydration synthesis reaction that connects two monosaccharides into a disaccharide.
-
Highlight the atoms that become the water molecule
Hydrolysis: a chemical reaction that _______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
- Requires the addition of ONE water molecule.
- this same reaction will be used to break down carbs, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids
- Hydrolysis is the exact reverse of dehydration synthesis shown above!
What do Carbs do for us?
Function
Examples:
Instant energy
Monosaccharides (simple sugars) like glucose,
fructose
Short term energy storage
Polysaccharides like glycogen (in animals) and
starch (in plants)
Cell structure (plant cell walls)
Polysaccharides like cellulose (becomes fiber in
our diet when we eat plants!)
What do the formal names of carbs all have in common?
LIPIDS:
Bio A - Biochemistry
One type of lipid molecule is made of
__________________________________________________
This type of lipid molecule is called a _________________________________________________
Do lipids have a true monomer?
___________ why?
What reaction puts a triglyceride together? ____________________________
What reaction breaks apart a triglyceride? _____________________________
Highlight the atoms that become the water molecules. Then fill in how many waters are made
H
+
H
+
__H2O
H
Three Fatty Acids
1 Triglyceride
Lipids are made of the following elements: _________________________________
Some examples of lipids include: __________________________________________________________
The major functions of lipids are:
1.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________________________
3.
_______________________________________________________________________________
4.
_______________________________________________________________________________
PROTEIN:
The monomer of a protein is called an ____________________________
What reaction builds proteins by linking amino acids? _____________________________
What reaction breaks down proteins into amino acids? _____________________________
Below is a dehydration synthesis reaction of two amino acids:
- highlight the atoms that become the water molecule
Bio A - Biochemistry
-
label the amino and carboxyl ends of AA 1
label the “variable R” group
label the peptide bond
+
+
H2O
How many different types of Amino acids exist? _________
The __________________________ is different in each amino acid while the amino group and carboxyl
group are the same.
Proteins are made of the following elements_________________________________
Once amino acids are linked in a chain, they are called a polypeptide. What has to happen to the
polypeptide before it becomes a functional protein?
Functions of Proteins and examples
Function
Examples
Structure
Chemical Messengers
Speed up chemical reactions
Fight disease
NUCLEIC ACIDS:
Nucleic acids are made up of the monomer called ____________________________
Draw the structure of one monomer and label the THREE parts; include the variations:
Nucleic acids are made of the elements_________________________________
Bio A - Biochemistry
What is the general role for all nucleic acids: ___________________________________________________
Compare and contrast RNA and DNA, the two types of nucleic acids.
RNA
Full Name
Ribonucleic Acid
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Name of the
sugar
Possible nitrogen
Bases
How many
chains or strands
does it have?
Function
-
Contains the directions to
make 1 protein; temporary
copy
DNA is the master copy of all
our information.
Stored in the nucleus of the cell
Nucleic acid analogy: Nucleic acids are information molecules that teach our cells how to make proteins.
Use this analogy to help understand.
DNA is an ENTIRE COOKBOOK of recipes that contains the information to make EVERY protein your body
needs.
-
But let’s say you want to make cookies. Do you need the pot roast recipe in the same cookbook? Do you
need all the pie recipes? No!
-
So… we can copy the cookie recipe onto an index card and follow ONLY those directions.
Likewise, the cell can copy a single protein recipe from the DNA into RNA.
-
If you follow the cookie recipe you will end up with one batch of tasty cookies.
Likewise, if your cells follow the directions on the RNA it will make a single protein
-
After finishing the cookies, we can throw out the index card because we still have that recipe in the
cookbook.
Likewise, after making the protein, the temporary copy of the recipe (RNA) can be destroyed because there
is still a master copy in the DNA!
-
Each protein recipe in the DNA is called a Gene