Chapter 2: The Chemistry Of Life Flashcards
How do chemical compounds differ from their element compounds?
A chemical element is a pure substance that consists entirely of one type of atom. A chemical compound is a substance formed by the chemical combination of two or more elements in definite proportions.
What three subatomic particles make up atoms
Protons neutrons and electrons
Be able to describe the difference between ionic and covalent bonds.
An ionic bond is formed when one or more electrons are transferred from one atom to another. A covalent bond is a type of bond between atoms in which the electrons are shared.
Understand how the properties of water (polarity, hydrogen bonding) contribute to its unique properties (cohesion, adhesion, high specific heat, and density)
Water molecules are polar with the hydrogen side being slightly positive and the oxygen side being slightly negative. They attract (hydrogen bond). Water is always polar. Cohesive things stick to each other and adhesive things stick to everything. Water is both cohesive and adhesive. High specific heat is the measurement of heat it takes to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance one degree.
What are polymers and monomers?
Polymers are molecules composed of many monomers. A monomer is a small chemical unit that makes up a polymer.
Be able to describe the four groups of macromolecules. (Carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, proteins.
Carbohydrates are polymers. Their functions are structure, energy storage, and fast energy. Examples are starch, cellulose, and chitin. Nucleic acids are polymers and their function is genetic materials. Examples are fat, oil, waxes, and steroids. Protein is a polymer and it is a Polly peptide. Lipids are not polymers and their function is energy storage, membranes and chemical signals. Examples are DNA and RNA.
What are the four levels of protein structure?
1) primary (chain)
2) secondary (coil)
3) tertiary (3D)
4) quaternary (complex protein)
What are enzymes?
Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up the rate of specific biological reactions.
What are reactants and products?
Reactants are elements or compounds that enter into a chemical reaction and products are elements or compounds that come out of a chemical reaction.
What are active sites?
Active sites are places where substrate molecules bind a chemical process happens.
What is a substrate?
A substrate is a reactant of an enzyme catalyzed reaction
How do enzymes catalyze chemical reactions?
Enzymes speed up the chemical reactions by not using a lot of energy to get the reaction going.
How can temperature, pH, and other factors affect enzyme activity.
The hotter it is, the more enzymes move, and the colder it is, the more they slow down. In an enzyme, substrates/reactants find each other, then the active site either breaks down or adds up the substrates into products. The products are in the active site. Lastly the active site spits out the products and now looks for new reactants. The enzyme can do this process thousands of times.
