Chapters 4 & 5: Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
Read the chapters in the Campbell & Reece textbook. Some of these may require you to break out your
old Chem notebook form last year! Questions with more than two parts are labeled (a,b,c) for
organizational purposes.
1. Explain why Stanley Miller's famous experiment destroyed the foundation of vitalism (you may need to re-read
the textbook Introduction: Chapter One to get this one)
2. Describe, and draw (diagram, showing electrons), a carbon atom.
3. What type of bond does carbon almost always form with other atoms?
4. What is a hydrocarbon? Give an example.
5. Name three types of isomers and how they differ.
6. Name each of the functional groups described in the text, what compounds they form, their chemical formula,
and an example.
7. What is the definition of organic chemistry?
8. Complete this sentence: Hydroxyl is to alcohol as ________ is to aldehyde.
9. Draw an organic molecule which has all six functional groups described in the chapter.
10. Give an example of a stereoisomer (or draw it).
11. State the general empirical formula for a carbohydrate. Explain what such a formula means.
12. To what do the terms monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide refer? What do all three have in
common?
13. Draw the straight chain and ring structures for alpha glucose and number the carbons.
14. (a) Explain what is meant by condensation synthesis. (b) What is the opposite process called? (c) How are both
important to most biological molecules?
15. (a) List the important differences between amylose, amylopectin, and glycogen. (b) Where would each be
found?
16. (a) Compare the primary structure of amylose with that of cellulose. (b) How do they differ in their secondary
structure (glycosidic linkages)? (c) How does the difference affect the use of each carbohydrate as a food?
17. (a) What is it that makes cellulose strong? (b) How its strength is further increased in plant fibers?
18. What is the role of chitin and how is it different from other carbohydrates?
19.(a) List the essential parts of a triglyceride. (b) Through what enzymatic process are triglycerides joined? (c)
What makes one triglyceride differ from the next? (d) What type of linkage is present in a triglyceride? (e) Where is
this linkage? (f) Which end of the triglyceride is more hydrophobic?
20. Distinguish between (a) an oil and a fat, and (b) between a saturated fat, an unsaturated fat, and a
polyunsaturated fat. (c) Are unsaturated or saturated fats more common in animal tissue? Explain.
21. (a) Describe the general structure of a phospholipid, and (b) explain its arrangement into membranes. (c) Sketch
a diagram of a phospholipid bilayer, indicating the hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions.
22. (a) What is a “steroid”? (b) Give a few examples of steroids. (c) Why are they often classified as “lipids”? (d)
How do steroids differ structurally from other lipids?
23. What are six significant uses for protein?
24. Carefully define the term protein. How is a protein different from a polypeptide?
25. (a) Draw (the structure) of any amino acid. (b) What do all amino acids have in common? (c) How do they
differ?
26. What are the three types of amino acids? Give an example of each type.
27. (a) List the four levels of organization possible in a protein, and (b) explain what forces are involved at each
level. (c) What must a protein have in order to have a quaternary structure?
28. How do collagen and hemoglobin differ in reference to size, shape and function?
29. What is the process which links two amino acids together? Describe the reaction.
30. (a) What is denaturation? (b) How or when may it occur? (c) What does a protein lose when it becomes
denatured?
31. Identify, with a drawing, the three types of monomers found in a nucleotide.
32. Name which nitrogenous bases are purines? Pyrimidines?
33. How are purines and pyrimidines linked in a double helix? Which ones attach to which?