biological molecules Flashcards
what is a monomer
smaller repeating units from which larger molecules are made
what are polymers
moleculea made up from many monomers joined together
what is a condensation reaction
joins two molecules together with the formation of a chemical bond and involves the elimination of a water molecule
what is hydrolysis
breaks a chemical bond between two molecules and involves the use of a water molecule
what does a carbohydrate contain
carbon, hydorgen and oxygen
commonly used by cells as respiratory substrates and from structural components in plasma membranes and cell walls
what is a monosacharide
monomers from which larger carbohydrates are made.
example of a monosacharide
glucose, galactose, fructose
all have the formula C6 H12 O6
what is a isomer
share the same chemical formula but have different structures
e.g. alpha glucose and beta glucose
what is the difference between alpha and beta glucose
on carbon one the position of the hydrogen and carboxyl group are inverted
alpha glucose reads ho ho on the bottom whereas beta is ho h
what is a dissacharide
formed by condensation of two monosacharides with a glycosidic bond
they are soluble in water and have the formula of C12 H22 O11
examples of a dissacharide
- maltose = two glucose
- sucrose = glucose and fructose
- lactose = glucose and galactose
what is starch and what are its properties
- polysacharide found in plant cells made up of alpha glucose
- 1,4 and 1,6 glycosidic bonds
- when hydrolysed releases glucose for respiration
- insoluble in water
- large molecule so cant cross cell surface membrane
- branched and coiled which makes it compact, fits many alpha glucose in a small area
- branched so faster hydrolysis
glycogen and its properties
- polysacharide found in the liver and muscle cells made up of alpha glucose
- 1,4 and 1,6 glycosidic bonds
- coiled which makes it compact for storage of many glucose molecules
- branched, more ends so faster hyrdolysis to rapidly release glucose for respiratory substrate to release ATP
- insoluble, not easily lost from the cell, does not affect water potential
cellulose and its properties
- polysacharide found in plant cell walls
- beta glucose
- 1,4 glycocidic bonds
- every other b glucose must be inverted
- long straight chains which link together by many H bonds to form microfibrils the fibrils
- this gives mechanical strength
what is the test for reducing sugars
- add benedicts solution
- heat
- positive result will be red precipitate
what is the test for non reducing sugars
- obtain negative result with benedicts sugar test
- boil with acid
- neutralise with NaHCO3
- heat with benedicts
- positive result is red precipitate
starch test
iodine solution stains blue black in the presence of starch
what are the two quantitiave methods used to see how much sugar is present in a benedicts test
1) produce a dilution series of known concentration of glucose solutions. Use a colorimeter measure the absorbance of the solution after carrying out a benedicts test, the higher the absorbance the more sugar is present. Use this data to plot a calibration curve.
2) filter and dry precipitate then find the mass using a balance. The bigger the mass the more sugar is present.
what is chromatography
technique used to seperate a mixture into its individual components.
relies on differences in solubility of the different solutes within a mixture.
higher the solubilty the further it will travel.
monosacharides are colourless so will stain first.
a spot of the stained monosacharide sample mixture is placed on a line at the bottom of the chromatography paper.
spots of knwon standard solutions of different monosacharides are placed on the line beside the sample spot.
structure and function of a tryglyceride
- contains carbon, hydorgen, oxygen
- insoluble
- formed when a condensation reaction occurs between glycerol and 3 fatty acids to form an ester bond
- hydrophobic / non polar
structure and function of phospholipids
- contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and phosphorus
- insoluble
- glycerol, 2 fatty acids and a phosphate
- both hydrophobic tails and hydrophillic heads
- allows formation of the phosphlipid bilayer
emulsion test for lipids
- add ethanol
- shake
- add water
- shake
- positive test will show cloudy white emulsion
What are the building blocks of proteins?
Amino acids