Section 1 - Carbohydrates Flashcards
What three elements do carbohydrates contain?
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
What are the three types of carbohydrate?
Sugar, starch and cellulose
What are sugars?
Small, water-soluble molecules that taste sweet
What two groups are sugars divided into?
Monosaccharides and disaccharides
What are monosaccharides?
Monosaccharides are the single units from which all the other carbohydrates are built from. Glucose and fructose are both monosaccharides. Glucose has two forms - alpha and beta.
What are two monosaccharides?
Glucose and fructose
What are the two forms of glucose?
Alpha and beta
What is the difference between an alpha glucose molecule and a beta glucose molecule?
The two forms of glucose have the right H and OH group swapped around
What are polysaccharides?
Polymers- long molecules made up of monomers.
What is starch?
A polysaccharide
What are the monomers of polysaccharides?
Monosaccharides
What are starch molecules made up of?
Two different polysaccharides - amylose and amylopectin, which are polymers of glucose.
Why is starch an ideal way of storing glucose?
Starch molecules are insoluble and compact
Where is the one place starch is found?
In plant cells
What is cellulose?
Like starch, cellulose is a polymer of glucose, but the bonding between the glucose units is different.
