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AS Biology > 1.1 - Chemical Elements and Biological Compounds > Flashcards

1.1 - Chemical Elements and Biological Compounds Flashcards

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1
Q

What is meant by ‘organic’?

A

Molecules that have high proportion of carbon atoms.

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2
Q

What is meant by ‘inorganic’?

A

A molecule or ion that has no more than one carbon atom.

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3
Q

What are 3 functions of inorganic ions?

A
  • muscle contractions
  • nervous coordination
  • maintaining water potential
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4
Q

What is magnesium like as an inorganic compound?

A
  • mg2+ is a contituent of chlorophyll (photosynthesis)
  • chlorosis is lack of chlorophyll (leaves turn yellow)
  • mammels need magnesium for growth and repair
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5
Q

What is iron like as an inorganic compound?

A
  • consitituent of haemoglobin (transports oxygen in red blood cells)
  • anaemia is the lack of iron in the human diet
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6
Q

What are phosphate ions like as inorganic ions?

A
  • used for making nucleotides like ATP
  • constituent of phospholipids, found in biological membranes
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7
Q

What is calcium like as an inorganic ion?

A
  • structural component of bones and teeth in mammels
  • component of plant cell walls, providing strength
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8
Q

Why are water molecules dipole?

A

Positively charged hydrogen and negatively charged oxygen

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9
Q

What bonds form between water molecules?

A

Hydrogen bonds which are very weak but a very large number of them present makes them difficult to break.

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10
Q

Name the 8 properties of water.

A
  • Water is a metabolite
  • High specific heat capacity
  • High latent heat of vaporisation
  • cohesion
    -high surface tension
  • high density
  • water is transparent
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11
Q

What are carbohydrates made out of?

A

Organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

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12
Q

What is one unit of carbohydrate called?

A

Monosaccharide

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13
Q

What is 2 units of carbohydrates called?

A

Disaccharide

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14
Q

What are many units of monosaccharides called?

A

Polysaccharide

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15
Q

What is the formula for monosaccharides?

A

(CH20)n
n being number of carbon molecules

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16
Q

The name of 3 carbon atoms in a monosaccharide?

A

Triose

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17
Q

The name of 5 carbon atoms in a monosaccharide?

A

Pentose

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18
Q

The name of 6 carbon atoms in a monosaccharide?

A

Hexose (aka glucose)

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19
Q

What is the hexose (aka glucose) formula?

A

C6H1206

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20
Q

What are the 2 isomers of glucose?

A

Alpha and beta

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21
Q

Whats the difference between alpha and beta glucose?

A

Alpha is a hoh

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22
Q

Name 4 functions of monosaccharides?

A
  • a source of energy in respiration
  • building blocks for larger molecules
  • intermediates in reactions
  • consituents of nucleotides
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23
Q

How are disaccharides formed?

A

2 monosaccharides bonded together from a glycosidic bond and the elimination of water, from a condensation reaction.

24
Q

What forms the disaccharide maltose?

A

Glucose + glucose (found in germinating seeds)

25
Q

How is the disaccharide sucrose formed?

A

Glucose + fructose (transport of phloem)

26
Q

How is the disaccharide lactose formed?

A

Galactose + Glucose (double G)(mammalian milk)

27
Q

How do you test for the presence of sugars?

A
  • Benedicts reagent detects reducing sugars in a solution
  • equal volumes of solution and reagent are heated to 70*
  • If sugar is present =
    blue - green - yellow - orange - red
28
Q

How are polysaccharides linked?

A

Large, complec polymers linked by glycosidic bonds

29
Q

Features of the polysaccharide starch?

A
  • insoluable
  • cannot diffuse out of the cell
  • compact molecule
  • carries alot of energy in its CH and CC bonds
30
Q

What is the function of starch?

A

Main store of glucose in plants, made out of alpha glucose.

31
Q

What are the 2 types of starch?

A

Amylopectin and amylase

32
Q

What is amylopectin?

A

Chains of glucose monomers joined with alpha 1-4 glycosidic bonds (chickens feet look)

33
Q

What is amylase?

A

Linear, unbranched molecules with alpha 1-4 glycosidic bonds coiling into a helix.

34
Q

How do you test for the presence of starch?

A

The iodine potassium iodide test, iodine reacts with starch, resulting in colour change orange/brown - blue/black.

35
Q

What is glycogen

A

Main storage product in animals
- a1-4, a1-6 bonds

36
Q

What is cellulose?

A

Polymer of beta glucose
Cell wall - cellulose microfibril - microfibril - cellulose molecule

37
Q

What are the structural differences between starch and cellulose?

A

-Starch is alpha glucose, cellulose is beta glucose
- cellulose is organised in chains, starch is coiled and compacted into branches

38
Q

What is chitin?

A
  • N-acetylglucosamine
  • resembles cellulose, long chains of beta glucose 1-4 monomers
  • strong, waterproof and light weight
39
Q

What are lipids? (3 features)

A
  • they contain carbon, hydrogen but less oxygen
  • non-polar compound
  • insoluable in water but dissolve in organic solvents
40
Q

What are triglycerides?

A

One glycerol + 3 fatty acids

41
Q

How are triglycerides formed?

A

Formed by a condensation reaction and ester bond, broken by hydrolysis.

42
Q

What are phospholipids?

A
  • Found in the cell membrane
  • Phosphate group is hydrophillic
  • fatty acid tails are hydrophobic
43
Q

Name the roles of lipids?

A

Phopholipids -
- biological membranes
- electrical insulation

Triglycerides -
- energy reserves in plants and animals
- thermal insulation
- protection
- metabolic water produced

Waxes -
- waterproofing

44
Q

What is the test for fats and oils?

A

The emulsion test, sample + ethanol = dissolved lipids
SE + equal vol of water is shaken.
Dissolved lipids come out of the solution, forming emulsion (cloudy white sample)

45
Q

What are the 2 main causes of heart disease?

A
  • fatty acids and deposits in coronary arteries (atherosclerosis)
  • high blood pressure (hypertension)
46
Q

What happens if a diet is high in saturated fats?

A
  • Low density Lipoprotein (LDL) builds up.
  • Fatty material called atheroma is deposited in arteries, restricting blood flow and oxygen.
  • Can result in angina, myocardial infarction or heart attacks.
47
Q

What happens if a diet is high in unsaturated fats?

A
  • More high density lipoproteins (HDL) is produced, which carries away harmful fats.
  • The higher the ration of HDL, the lower the risk of heart disease or cardio-vascular disease.
48
Q

What are proteins?

A
  • carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
  • made out of monomers of amino acids
  • chains of amino acids are called polypeptides
  • 20 amino acids are used to make up proteins
49
Q

What is the structure of an amino acid?

A

Attached to a central C atom are -
- amino group (NH2) at one end (Nterminal)
- carboxyl group (COOH) at the other end (Cterminal)
- a hydrogen atom
- the R group (variable in each amino acid)

50
Q

What is a peptide bond?

A

The chemical bond formed between the condensation reaction of an amino group of one amino acid and the carboxyl group of another.

51
Q

What is the primary structure of a protein?

A

Order of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.

52
Q

What is the secondary structure of a protein?

A

The shape the polypeptide forms due to hydrogen bonding between O and H groups,
Causes the peptide to spiral into a-helix or B-pleated (sheet)

53
Q

What is the tertiary structure of a protein?

A

A-helix can be twisted to form a more complex structure
The shape is maintained by-
- hydrogen bonds
- ionic bonds
- disulphide bonds
- hydrophobic interactions

54
Q

What is the quaternary structure of a protein?

A
  • some polypeptide chains don’t function unless in combination
  • may be associated with large, complex molecules like haemoglobin.
55
Q

What are fibrous proteins?

A
  • long thin molecules, insoluable in water
  • structural function like bone
  • polypeptides are in parallel chains or sheets, cross linkages causing long fibres
  • strong and tough
56
Q

What are globular proteins?

A
  • compact and folded into spherical molecules
  • soluable in water
  • enzymes, antibodies, plasma proteins and hormones
57
Q

What is the test for proteins?

A

The biuret test
- solution + biuret reagent (NaOH and Cu2SO4 react)
- creates blue CUOH
- interacts with peptide bonds in the protein, so turns purple
- the more concentrated the protein, the darker the purple.

AS Biology (11 decks)

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