The Chemical and Physical Basis of Life
I.
Chemical Elements and Atoms
A. Matter and Chemical Elements
B. Atoms
C. Electron Energy Levels (Shells)
D. Number, Mass and Weight of Atoms
1. Atomic number
2. Atomic Mass Number
3. Atomic Mass or Weight
E. Isotopes
F. Ions
II. Chemical Bonds and Molecules
A. Chemical Bond
B. Covalent Bond
1. Nonpolar Covalent Bond
2. Polar Covalent Bond
C. Ionic Bonds and Ions
D. Hydrogen Bond
III. Carbon Chemistry
A. Carbohydrates
1. Monosaccharides
2. Disaccharides
3. Polysaccharides
B. Lipids
1. Fatty Acids
a. Saturated Fatty Acids
b. Unsaturated Fatty Acids
2. Neutral Fats
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3. Phospholipids
4. Steroids
5. Eicosanoids
C. Proteins
1. Amino Acids
2. Peptide Bond
3. Structural Levels of Proteins
a. Primary (I0) Structure
b. Secondary (II0) Structure
c. Tertiary (III0) Structure
d. Quaternary (IV0) Structure
e. Fibrous and Globular Proteins
f. Protein Denaturation
4. Functional Proteins –Enzymes
a. Nature of Enzymes
b. Action of Enzymes - How do enzymes act?
How do enzymes lower activation energy?
c. Cofactors
d. Regulation of Enzyme Activity
1. Competitive Inhibition
2. Noncompetitive Inhibition
e. Reversible Enzymatic Reactions - Law of Mass Action
5. Energy and Metabolic Reactions
a. Energy
b. Metabolic Reactions
c. Factors Affecting Reaction Rates
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D. Nucleic Acids
1. Nucleotide
2. Polynucleotide
a. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
b. Deoxynucleic Acid (DNA)
c. Complementary Base Pairing of DNA
Purine bases
Pyrimidine bases
d. Function of Nucleic Acids
e. Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) and Diphosphate (ADP) – Biological
useable form of energy
Inorganic Compounds - Solutions, Acids, Bases, Salts, pH, Buffer Systems, Movement of Solute and Solvent in
Solution
I. Solutions
A. Mixture
B. True Solutions
Properties of Water
1. Water serves as a medium for the chemical reactions and participates in the reactions.
2. Water has high heat capacity.
3. Water has high heat of vaporization.
4. Water serves as a lubricant.
5. Water has excellent polarity, solvent and suspending properties.
6. Water has high surface tension due to H bonds, thus water can form thin
layers on the surface.
C. Colloids
D. Suspensions
II. Acids, Bases, Salts and pH
A. Acids - substances that dissociate in water to release H+ and anions. Acids are H+ or proton donors.
B. Bases - substances that dissociate in water to release OH- and cations. Bases are H+ or proton acceptors.
C. Salts - substances that dissociate in water into cations and anions which are not H+ or OH
D. pH - power of the H+ concentration.
E. Strong Acids
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F. Weak Acids
III. Hydrogen Ion and Acid-Base Regulation - Buffer System - Maintaining pH Constant
A buffer system is a solution which contains a weak acid (undissociated form of the acid) and the salt of the
weak acid (conjugate base or dissociated form of the weak acid).
IV. Movement of Solutes and Solvent (H20) in Solutions
Passive Transport – movement of substances down a concentration gradient, from a region of high to a
region of low concentration.
A. Diffusion
1. Simple Diffusion
2. Facilitated Diffusion
B. Osmosis
1. Osmotic Pressure and Hydrostatic Pressure of a Solution
a. Osmotic Pressure
b. Hydrostatic Pressure
2. Tonicity of Solutions and the Cell Membrane
a. Isotonic solution
b. Hypotonic solution
c. Hypertonic solution
C. Filtration
D. Dialysis
E. Bulk Flow
Active Transport - movement of substances against a concentration gradient from lowers to higher
concentration. This requires the use of energy from ATP. Active transport requires a carrier or pump protein
in the cell membrane, which requires energy to bind the substance, the carrier then, change shape to carry the
substance across the membrane. Then the carrier regains its original shape.
A. Primary Active Transport
B. Secondary Active Transport: Symports (cotransport) and Antiport (countertransport)
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Type of bond
Ionic
bond
Polar
covalent
Nonpolar
covalent
Status of
electrons
Complete
transfer of
election
Unequal
sharing of
electrons
Equal
sharing of
electrons
Electrical
distribution
Separate
ions
(charged
particles
form)
Slight negative
Charge
charge at one
balanced
end of molecule, among
slight positive
atoms
charge at other
end of molecule
Example
Na+ ClSodium
chloride
H+O-H+
Water
O=C=O
Carbon
dioxide
Comparison of ionic, polar, covalent, nonpolar covalvent. This compares the status of electrons involved in
bonding and the electrical charge distribution in the molecules formed.
Characteristic
DNA
RNA
Major cellular site
Nucleus
Cytoplasm (cell area outside the
nucleus)
Major function
is the genetic material;
directs protein synthesis;
replicates itself before cell division
Carries out the genetic
instructions
for protein synthesis
Sugar
Deoxyribose
Ribose
Bases
Adenine, guanine,
cytosine, thymine
Adenine, guanine,
cytosine, uracil
Structure
Double strand coiled into a double helix
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Single straight or folded strand