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Large Biological Molecules
Organic Chem/Hydrocarbons
Class Work
1. What is organic chemistry?
2. How many valence electrons does carbon have?
3. Carbon-Hydrogen bonds are polar or non-polar?
4. Define saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons.
5. If a hydrocarbon has a double bond is it saturated or unsaturated?
6. What is a macromolecule?
7. Carbohydrates are made from which monomer?
8. Which polymer are nucleotides the monomer for?
Homework
9. What is the maximum number of atoms a carbon atom can bond to?
10. What kind of bonds do carbon atoms form with other atoms?
11. What two kinds of atoms are all hydrocarbons made of?
12. Are hydrocarbons soluble in water? Explain.
13. To what type of hydrocarbon can additional atoms be added? How?
14. What process allows monomers to join together to form polymers?
15. Proteins are made from which monomer?
Carbohydrates
Class Work
16. What is another name for a simple carbohydrate?
17. Name two common simple sugars.
18. What is a polysaccharide?
19. How can cells obtain energy from a polysaccharide?
20. Where can you find cellulose?
Homework
21. What is a carbohydrate?
22. What characteristic of sugars makes them soluble in water?
23. What jobs can simple sugars do?
24. What is sucrose and how is it made?
25. Compare and contrast starch and glycogen.
Nucleic Acids
Class Work
26. What monomers make nucleic acid?
27. What is different about the sugars and bases of RNA and DNA?
28. What shape(s) do DNA form?
29. What bases bond together in DNA?
30. Why is RNA essential to DNA?
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Homework
31. What are the three components of a nucleotide?
32. What determines the shape of RNA?
33. What bases in RNA bond together?
34. Give two reasons why DNA is better for storing genetic information than
RNA?
Proteins
Class Work
35. What component of an amino acid differs between each type of amino acid?
36. When a few amino acids bond together they form what?
37. How many levels of structure can a protein have?
38. What is the primary structure of a protein?
39. How does a protein get its secondary structure?
40. A protein with a 3D structure is characteristic of what structural level?
41. List the seven classes of proteins.
42. Hair is an example of what class of protein?
Homework
43. How many amino acids are used to construct most proteins?
44. What three components compose an amino acid?
45. When is a peptide chain considered a protein?
46. What determines the function or the job of a specific protein?
47. When a protein loses its shape and therefore its function, this is referred to
as what?
48. What two shapes are seen in the secondary structure of a protein?
49. How does the tertiary structure of a protein differ from the secondary
structure?
50. What is the quaternary structure of a protein?
51. Antibodies are an example of what class of protein?
Lipids
Class Work
52. How can a molecule be amphiphilic?
53. What functions do lipids have?
54. How are trans fats made?
55. Phopholipds, waxes, and steroids are all types of which biological molecule?
56. Explain how detergent is able to remove a stain from your clothes.
Homework
57. How do lipids differ from other large biological molecules?
58. Define a phospholipid.
59. Explain what makes a phospholipid amphiphilic.
60. What process allows the glycerol to bond with the fatty acid chain?
61. What are the differences between saturated and unsaturated lipids?
62. Why are trans fats a health hazard?
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Large Biological Molecules
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Free Response
1. Organic chemistry is the study of compounds that contain carbon.
a. Describe the properties of a carbon atom that make it ideally suited to
produce varied carbon skeletons.
b. Identify the four major biological monomers that carbon is able to
form and corresponding polymers if any.
2. The process of linking monomers to make polymers is essential to the
formation of many of life’s larger molecules.
a. Identify a major carbohydrate monomer that is used to form polymers
and describe the process that allows these monomers to form
polymers.
b. Identify three polysaccharides, tell where they can be found, and the
function of each.
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3. Nucleic acids are one of the major biological molecules found in all living
things
a. Identify the monomer form of nucleic acids and describe the three
components of that monomer.
b. Compare and contrast the structure and basic function of RNA and
DNA. Include which is more stable and why.
4. There are seven classes of proteins that all serve different functions, and
surprisingly all proteins are made of only 20 amino acids.
a. Describe and distinguish between the four structural levels of
proteins.
b. Describe the effects that an increase in temperature would have on a
protein.
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5. Food labels sometimes list “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” as an
ingredient.
a. What does this mean?
b. Would this food be considered more or less healthful? Explain.
6. Although all four classes of biological molecules are composed of carbon,
each class has its own specific properties.
a. Describe a simple experiment that would allow you to distinguish if a
simple white substance was a lipid or a carbohydrate.
b. Describe a simple experiment that would allow you to determine if a
warm beaker of yellow liquid is a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid.
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Large Biological Molecules Answers
1. The study of organic
compounds
2. Four
3. Non-polar
4. In saturated hydrocarbons
each carbon is bonded to four
other atoms with single bonds.
In unsaturated hydrocarbons
some of the carbons are double
or triple bonded to other
atoms.
5. Unsaturated
6. Large molecules with complex
structures that are composed
of smaller molecules or
monomers
7. Monosaccharides
8. Nucleic Acids
9. 4
10. Covalent Bonds
11. Carbon & Hydrogen
12. Hydrocarbons are hydrophobic
or non-polar so they are not
soluble in water
13. Unsaturated hydrocarbons. By
breaking the double or triple
bonds and bonding to another
atom with only a single bond.
14. Dehydration Synthesis
15. Nucleotides
16. Sugar or saccharide
17. Glucose & Fructose
18. A chain of monosaccharides
19. Break the polysaccharide apart
into monosaccharides through
hydrolysis.
20. Plant cell walls
21. Compounds consisting of
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
22. Their hydroxyl groups
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23. Provide energy for work,
create carbon backbones,
comprise larger carbohydrates
24. Sucrose is a disaccharide made
through dehydration synthesis
of glucose and fructose.
25. Starch can be branched or
unbranched and is used for
energy storage in plants
whereas glycogen is highly
branched and is used for
energy storage in animals.
26. RNA has an extra hydroxyl
group
27. DNA only forms a double helix
28. Guanine bonds with cytosine
and adenine bonds with
thymine
29. DNA is not capable of bringing
the information it stores to
where it can be used in the cell,
but RNA is capable of taking
the information from DNA and
bringing it to where it can be
used in the cell
30. A 5-carbon sugar, a
nitrogenous base, and a
phosphate group
31. The sequence of the nucleotide
bases determines the shape
because the hydrogen bonding
between the bases create the
shape. Changing the order of
the bases would change the
shape.
32. Adenine bonds with uracil and
guanine bonds with cytosine
33. The double helix shape keeps
the bases protected on the
inside of the molecule. Also,
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thymine is a more stable
nucleotide than uracil.
34. Amino Acids
35. The side chain or the R-group
36. Peptide chains
37. 4
38. A peptide chain of 50 or more
amino acids
39. Hydrogen bonding between the
amino and carboxyl groups of
amino acids along the
polypeptide chain
40. Tertiary Structure
41. Structural, contractile, storage,
defense, transport, signaling,
enzymatic
42. Structural
43. 20
44. amine group, carboxyl group,
side chain
45. when it has 50 or more amino
acids
46. the shape of the protein
47. denaturation
48. alpha helix and pleated sheet
49. The tertiary structure is the
overall 3D shape that is created
by bonds between R-groups,
whereas the secondary
structure does not involve any
bonding of the R-groups only
bonds between the amino and
carboxyl groups.
50. The quaternary structure
consists of more than one
polypeptide chain.
51. Defense
52. An amphiphilic molecule has
one end that is attracted to
water and one end that is
repelled by water.
53. Energy storage, composing cell
membranes, and being
involved in metabolic activities
54. Trans fats are made through a
chemical process that takes
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unsaturated fatty acids and
makes them saturated.
55. Lipids
56. The hydrophobic end of the
detergent is attracted to the
stain and the hydrophilic end is
attracted to the water. As the
water bonds and pulls at the
hydrophilic end, the
hydrophobic end bonds and
pulls the stain up out of the
fabric until it is all released into
the water.
57. Lipids do not form polymers
58. A phospholipid is an
amphiphilic molecule
composed of one glycerol and
two fatty acids.
59. The glycerol end of the
phospholipid is hydrophilic
and the fatty acid end is
hydrophobic.
60. Dehydration Synthesis
61. Saturated lipids have the
maximum number of hydrogen
bonds possible and only have
single bonds. They are solid at
room temperature.
Unsaturated lipids have one or
more double bonds and are
liquid at room temperature.
62. Trans fats stay in our
bloodstream longer and more
likely to cause plaque
formation, which leads to
things like heart attacks.
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Free Response
1.
2.
3.
a. Carbon has four valence electrons and is able to bond with up to four
other atoms. Carbon can also form double and triple bonds with other
atoms.
b. The monomers are amino acids, monosaccharides, nucleotides, and
lipids. The polymers are: amino acids- proteins, monosaccharides to
carbohydrates, nucleotides to nucleic acids, lipids have no polymer
form.
a. A major carbohydrate monomer that is used to form polymers is
glucose. Glucose monomers are able to bond together through
dehydration synthesis in which a hydroxyl group is removed from one
glucose molecule and a hydrogen atom is removed from the other to
allow these two monomers to join together and create a water
molecule in the process.
b. Three polysaccharides are starch, glycogen, and cellulose. Starch and
cellulose are both found in plants and glycogen is found in animals.
Starch is used for energy storage in plants, glycogen is used for energy
storage in animals, and cellulose is used for structural support in
plants.
a. Nucleic acids are made of nucleotide monomers. Each nucleotide
consists of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous
base.
b. RNA is made with the sugar ribose and the bases adenine, guanine,
cytosine, and uracil. RNA is single stranded and can form many
different shapes. DNA is made with the sugar deoxyribose and the
bases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. DNA can only form a
double helix shape. DNA is more stable than RNA because of its
double helix and having thymine which is more stable than uracil, for
this reason DNA is used to store the genetic code however RNA is
essential for bringing that genetic code to parts of the cell where it can
be processed and used.
c.
4.
a. The primary structure of proteins is a polypeptide chain consisting of
50 or more amino acids. Alpha helices and pleated sheets that are
formed by hydrogen bonding between the amino and carboxyl groups
of amino acids in the peptide chain characterize the secondary
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structure. The tertiary structure is the overall 3D structure of a
protein formed by bonds between the R-groups; it is at this level that
proteins get their function. The quaternary structure of a protein is
formed when two or more polypeptide chains bond together, not
every protein has a quaternary structure.
b. If a protein was heated it would experience denaturation which is the
loss of shape and function of a protein.
5.
6.
a. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is an example of an unsaturated
lipid that has had more hydrogen atoms added to it to make it more
saturated. When this happens this actually creates trans fats.
b. This food would be considered less healthful because when adding
hydrogen to an unsaturated lipid you create trans fats which stay in
the blood stream for a long time and can lead to health complications
such as plaque buildup which can lead to heart attacks.
a. A simple experiment that would allow me to distinguish whether the
substance was a lipid or carbohydrate would be to add the white
substance to a glass of water and stir to see if it dissolves. If the
substance dissolves in the water than it is a carbohydrate (think
adding sugar to iced tea), if it does not dissolve than it is a lipid
because lipids are hydrophobic or amphiphilic and are not easily
soluble in water.
b. A simple experiment that would allow me to determine if the warm
yellow liquid was a saturated or unsaturated fatty acid would be to
allow the beaker to cool to room temperature and see if the substance
changed to a solid or remained a liquid. If the substance solidified it
would be a saturated fatty acid and if it remained a liquid it would be
an unsaturated fatty acid as the state of the substance at room
temperature is a characteristic feature
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