Molecules Flashcards
Hydrophillic
- water loving molecules
- polar molecules and ions dissolve readily
Hydrophobic
- water hating
- non-polar molecules which do not dissolve in water
Hydrophobic Interactions
- waters forcing non-polar molecules together
- this minimizes their effects on the hydrogen bonded molecules (ex. water)
Chemical Bonds/Interactions Order of Strength.
Give a brief descriptions of each
covalent bond (relative sharing of electrons) > hydrogen bond (attraction of opposite charges; OH, FH, NH) > ionic bond (attraction of opposite charges) > hydrophobic interactions (exclusion of nonpolar molecules from water > van der Waals (interactino due to fluctuating electrical charges)
Bond Energy
- amount of energy needed to separate two bonded or interacting atoms under physiological conditions
Molarity
- 1 molar (1M) solution is one mole of of a compound dissolved in water to make one liter
Acids
- release/donate H+ ions in solution
- complete dissociation (approx. 100%) means it’s a strong acid (HCl) and partial dissociation means or a easily reversible reaction means it’s a weak acid (carboxylic acids)
Bases
- accept H+ ions in a solution (or releases OH-)
- strong bases dissociate 100%
- weak bases (anything with amino groups) dissociate partially and reversibly
pH
- defined as the negative logarithm of the H+ concentration in moles/liter
Buffers
- make overall solution resistant to pH change because they react with both acids and bases (ex. blood, stabilizing proteins)
Why do buffers illustrate the “Law of Mass Action”?
- addition of reactants accelerates the reaction, and the addition of products accelerates the reverse reaction to keep in equilibrium
List all important functional groups.
-hydroxide, phosphate, sulfhydryl, amino (amines), carbonyl (aldehydes and ketones), carboxyl
Examples of Large Molecules
- proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates
What are the benefits of macromolecules?
Hint: think specific to Earth
- all made the same way in the same proportions
- allows biochemical unity on Earth
What are polymers?
- large molecules made up of repeating sub-units called monomers
- Polymerization reaction: act of bonding together monomers into polymers