Chapter 1 + Quiz Questions Flashcards
What are the two components about life that all organisms use?
- A common group of building blocks (nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides)
- A common core of essential biochemical processes
What are the four different perspectives about the living state?
Chemical, Energy, Genetic, Evolutionary
What are the four elements that account for 98% of most organisms?
Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Nitrogen
Which compound accounts for much of the oxygen and hydrogen in living things?
Water (H2O)
All known life form are _____ based
Carbon
Air contains lots of nitrogen, but in what form?
Inert, N2
Most of the chemical elements within the biosphere are readily available, where does carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen come from?
Carbon: from the air through plants
Oxygen: from the air
Hydrogen: from water
Where does Nitrogen come from?
Nitrogen from the biosphere comes from plants, that extract it from the soil
Does the availability of nitrogen in the soil limit the growth of plants? If yes, how does this affect humans?
Yes, and this limits the amount of food we can produce. The amount of naturally occurring nitrogen is enough for about 4 billion people
Why is it that the chemicals in your body are almost worthless, but your organs the opposite?
While the chemical components of living things are not exotic, how they come together is priceless
Why is carbon considered extremely versatile?
Because of the number and variety of chemical bonds it can form
Why is carbon’s versatility so important?
It enables the creation of a wide array of complex molecules, such as amino acids, sugars, and nucleotides
What element is considered the “next best element?” and why?
Silicon, because it is highly abundant in the Earth’s crust and can also form four covalent bonds
What are some theories to why we are carbon based and not silicon based?
- Carbon-carbon bonds are stronger
- More energy is released from the combustion of carbon-carbon bonds
- The combustion products of carbon are soluble and remain active in the biosphere
True or False: different functional groups are unique with respect to their size, shape, charge, reactivities, and hydrogen-bonding capacity?
True
What is the Sulfhydryl Functional group?
R - S - H
What is the Disulfide Functional group?
R1 - S - S - R2
What is the Phosphoryl Functional group?
P in the middle, O to the left with a single bond, O- on the top with a single bond, OH to the right with a single bond, and an O on the bottom with a double bond
What is the Amino Functional group?
R on the left by a single bond, N in the middle, and two H both 45 degrees with a single bond to the right
What is the Amido Functional group?
R on the left by a single bond, a C in the middle, and O on the bottom by a double bond, an N to the right of C by a single bond, and two H both 45 degrees with a single bond to the right
What is the Imidazole Functional group?
R on the left by a single bond. What follows is an upside down pentagon ring. Going clockwise: C to the right of R by a single bond, a CH on the same level by a double bond, then N down/right by a single bond, then C down/left by a double bond, HN up/left by a single bond and also connected to original C by single bond. There is also an H connected by a single bond on the lowest facing carbon.
What is the Guanidino Functional group?
3 parts.
1. R on the left, N to the right by a single bond, then H on the top by a single bond
2. C to the right of N, N on the bottom by a double bond, then an H on the bottom by a single bond
3. N to the right of C, and two H both 45 degrees with a single bond to the right
What is the Hydroxyl Functional group?
R on the left, O to the right by a single bond, H to the right by a single bond
What is the Carboxyl Functional group?
R on the left, C on the right by a single bond, O- on the left by a single bond, O underneath C by a double bond
What is the Carbonyl (Ketone) Functional group?
R1 on the left, C on the right by a single bond, R2 on the right by a single bond, O underneath C by a double bond
What is the Carbonyl (Aldehyde) Functional group?
R on the left, C on the right by a double bond, H on the right by a double bond, O underneath C by a double bond
The properties of the functional groups determine what?
The structure, function, and properties of the biomolecule
For all biomolecules, _____ dictates ____
Structure, function
What is conformation?
The flexible spatial arrangement of atoms within a molecule. It can be changed without breaking covalent bonds
What is configuration?
The fixed spatial arrangement of atoms within a molecule. It cannot be changed without breaking covalent bonds