Study Questions for Bio 101
Atoms and Molecules
10. What are the most common chemical elements in living things?
2. Describe the structure of an atom and the relationship between the numbers of protons,
neutrons, and electrons.
3. What is an isotope, and how are isotopes useful in investigating biological
phenomena? Which isotopes are likely to be used with proteins? With DNA? Small
molecules?
4. How do C, H, N,O, and P bond? How many bonds per atom?
5. Describe the differences in strength and composition of covalent, ionic, and hydrogen
bonds.
6. What are the properties of water that make it especially suitable for biological life?
What is the fundamental principle underlying most of the properties of water?
7. What is the relationship between hydrophobic and hydrophilic and the terms polar and
non-polar? What does "like dissolves like" mean?
8. Describe the pH scale and the two key ions that play a role in determining pH value.
How do the relative concentrations of hydroxide and hydrogen ions change in different
solutions? What constitutes an acidic, basic, or neutral solution?
9. What is the function of a buffer? Describe the buffer system common in mammalian
blood and in ocean water and how it prevents pH change. Why are low or high pHs a
problem for living things?
10. What makes a molecule "organic"? Describe a hydrocarbon.
11. Describe the structure, chemical behavior (polarity, ionizability), and biological
importance of hydroxyl (alcohol), amino, carboxyl, sulfhydryl, and phosphate groups.
12. What is the biological importance of different optical isomers of the same compound?
What does the term "structure is correlated to function" mean?
13. What is the typical structure of a macromolecule? By what common chemical
reaction are macromolecules synthesized? Degraded? What are the four major classes of
biological macromolecules?
14. What are the general names for a monomer or polymer belonging to the carbohydrate
group of macromolecules? Specifically name two or three of the monomers and 5
different polymers in this group.