CHEMICAL REACTIONS
METABOLISM
• Your metabolism is the sum of all the
chemical reactions that take place within
you. (There are literally thousands of them going on at any
given moment!)
• Every chemical reaction involves the
breaking of bonds within the reactants and
the rearranging of atoms and formation of
new bonds in the products.
• There are four major types of chemical
reactions that are common in biology.
1. Dehydration Synthesis
2. Hydrolysis
3. Neutralization
4. REDOX
DEHYDRATION SYNTHESIS
• AKA: Condensation Reaction
• In a dehydration synthesis reaction,
subunits of a larger molecule are joined
together by the removal of water.
• We see these reactions all the time in
biochemistry. They are use to construct
carbohydrates, lipids and proteins.
HYDROLYSIS
• Hydrolysis is a reaction in which
water is used as a reactant to split a
larger molecule into smaller
subunits.
• Hydrolysis is the exact opposite of
dehydration synthesis.
• ”Dehydration Makes!…Hydrolysis Breaks!”
• Digestion of many materials depends
greatly upon hydrolysis.
NEUTRALIZATION
• A neutralization reaction occurs between
an acid and a base.
• These opposing chemicals nullify each
others properties and form water and a
salt.
ACID + BASE  WATER + SALT
• Your body has a number of areas that must
maintain a specific pH level if function is to
be maintained so your body has a series of
buffer systems in place that use acids
and/or bases to do this.
REDOX
• REDOX reactions involve the movement of
electrons from one substance to another. It is
also known as am electron transfer reaction.
• Oxidation involves the loss of electrons by a
substance.
• Reduction involves the gain of electrons by a
substance.
• Each reaction will have a reducing agent and
an oxidizing agent…the reducing agent gives
up the electrons and the oxidizing agent
receives the electrons…sounds backwards but
it ain’t!
• We see REDOX reactions quite commonly when
there is energy transfer within the cell.
REDOX
FIN