Organic vs. Inorganic Biological molecules
3111
Objective: You should be able to
1) Define organic molecule and inorganic molecule.
2) Determine if a molecule is organic or inorganic.
3) Remember that carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, and nucleic acids
are organic molecules.
4) Remember that water and minerals are inorganic molecule.
REMEMBER THIS!!!
There are two types of biological molecules found in living things, organic and
inorganic.
What are Biological Molecules? They are any molecule that is used my living
organisms or used to build living organisms. They can be organic or inorganic.
1. Organic Molecules
Organic molecules are molecules that contain carbon atoms. You have probably
heard of the following words: carbohydrate, lipid, protein, vitamin and nucleic acid.
They are all examples of ORGANIC MOLECULES. In the next learning packets
you will have to know what each of the organic molecules do for living things. For
right now, you should know that carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, and
nucleic acids are all types of organic molecules because they contain carbon atoms.
Question 1:
What is a biological molecule?
Question 2: How would you know if a biological molecule was organic?
Questions 3: List 5 examples of organic molecules.
2. Inorganic Molecules
Inorganic molecules are easy to remember. They are molecules that don’t
contain carbon. 2 examples of inorganic molecules that are important to all living
things are water and minerals.
Question 4:
How would you know if a molecule is inorganic?
Question 5: List 2 examples of inorganic molecules.
REMEMBER THIS!!!
All organic molecules contain carbon. No inorganic molecules contain carbon.
The following chart may help you remember the difference between organic
molecules and inorganic molecules.
organic molecules (contain carbon)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
carbohydrate
lipid
protein
vitamin
nucleic acid
inorganic molecules (no carbon)
1. water
2. minerals
Question 6: If someone asked you whether a molecule was organic or inorganic,
how would you distinguish between an organic and an inorganic molecule?