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Biology 1010 > The Chemistry of Life > Flashcards

The Chemistry of Life Flashcards

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AP® Biology flashcards Biology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is matter?

A

any substance that occupies space and has mass

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2
Q

What is an element?

A

pure substances consisting only of one type of atom

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3
Q

What are principle elements?

A

elements that are most abundant in the human body

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4
Q

What are trace elements?

A

elements that are present in small amounts in the human body

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5
Q

What is an atom?

A

the smallest indivisible unit of an element and are therefore the smallest stable units of matte

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6
Q

What is the structure of an atom?

A

Atoms consist of three basic particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. The nucleus of the atom contains the protons and the neutrons. The outermost regions of the atom are called electron shells and contain the electrons

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7
Q

What are protons?

A

subatomic particles that possess a positive electrical charge and have a high mass and low energy

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8
Q

What is a neutron?

A

electrically neutral subatomic particles that have a high mass and low energy

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9
Q

What is an electron?

A

are subatomic particles that possess a negative electrical charge. They are smaller than protons and neutrons therefore they have low mass but high energy

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10
Q

What is a nucleus?

A

a nucleus is the positively charged center of the atom consisting of protons and neutrons

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11
Q

How is the atomic mass determined?

A

determined by the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus

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12
Q

What is an electron cloud?

A

the system of electrons surrounding the nucleus of an atom

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13
Q

What is a valence shell?

A

the outermost shell of an atom

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14
Q

What is an ion?

A

any atom or molecule with a positive charge

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15
Q

What is a cation?

A

positively charged atoms created by the loss of one or more electrons

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16
Q

What is an anion?

A

negatively charged atoms created by the gaining of one or more electrons

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17
Q

When talking about valence shells, what does inert mean?

A

If the valence shell is full, the atom will not react with other atoms and is said to be inert

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18
Q

When talking about valence shells, what does reactive mean?

A

If the valence shell is not full, the atom will form chemical bonds with other atoms until it satisfies its outermost shell requirements and is said to be reactive

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19
Q

What is an ionic bond?

A

a bond created by the TRANSFER of electron(s) from one atom to another atom.

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20
Q

What is a covalent bond?

A

a bond created by the SHARING of one or more pairs of electrons

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21
Q

What are the three types of covalent bonds? What do they mean?

A

Single covalent bond – one pair of electrons are shared between two atoms.
Double covalent bond – two pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms.
Triple covalent bond – three pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms.

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22
Q

What is the difference between a polar vs non-polar covalent bond?

A

Polar covalent bonds are created by unequal sharing of electrons.
Non-polar covalent bonds are those where the atoms share the electrons equally.

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23
Q

What is a hydrogen bond?

A

an electrostatic attraction between a hydrogen atom in one polar molecule (as of water) and a small electronegative atom (as of oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine) in usually another molecule of the same or a different polar substance

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24
Q

What is a van der Waals interaction?

A

Weak attractions between polar, covalently-bonded, atoms in different molecules

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25
Q

What is a molecule?

A

Molecules are chemical substances consisting of atoms of one or more elements (can be the same or different elements) held together by covalent bonds

26
Q

What is a compound?

A

Compounds are chemical substances made up of atoms from two or more different elements, regardless of the type of bonds joining them together.

27
Q

What are the properties of water?

A

The properties of water include cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, surface tension, the ability to dissolve many substances, and high specific heat.

28
Q

What does hydrophilic mean?

A

Water-loving.

When substances readily form hydrogen bonds with water, they dissolve in water and are referred to as hydrophilic.

29
Q

What does hydrophobic mean?

A

Water-fearing.
When substances do not readily form hydrogen bonds with water, they do not dissolve in water and are referred to as hydrophobic.

30
Q

What is a solvent?

A

The medium in which other atoms, ions, or molecules are dispersed.

31
Q

What is a solute?

A

the substances dissolved in the solvent.

32
Q

What is an acid?

A

biological compounds that release hydrogen ions (H+) when placed in a solution.

33
Q

What is a base?

A

Bases are biological compounds that release hydroxide ions (OH-) when placed in solution.

34
Q

What is higher on the ph scale, a base or an acid?

A

Bases are higher on the pH scale than acids.

35
Q

What is a neutral?

A

biological compounds that release equal numbers of H+ and OH- when placed in solution.

36
Q

What is a buffer?

A

biological substances that counter shifts in the pH by releasing H+ ions when their concentrations are too low, or by combining with them when the concentrations are too high.

37
Q

What is a macromolecule?

A

large molecules necessary for life.

38
Q

What are the 4 classes of biomolecules?

A

carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acid

39
Q

What is dehydration synthesis?

A

when a bond is created through the removal of water.

40
Q

What is a monosaccharide?

A

Monosaccharides (one sugar unit) are the simplest carbohydrate.

41
Q

What is a disaccharide?

A

Disaccharides (two sugar units) are the simplest short-chain carbohydrates.

42
Q

What is a polysaccharide?

A

Polysaccharides are straight or branched chains of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of sugar monomers.

43
Q

What is a fatty acid?

A

long carbon chains with hydrogen atoms attached.

44
Q

What is the difference between a saturated and unsaturated fatty acid?

A

Saturated fatty acids have only single covalent bonds between the carbons in their tail and tend to be solid at room temperature.
Unsaturated fatty acids are liquids at room temperature because they have one or more double covalent bonds between the carbons in the fatty acid.

45
Q

What is a glyceride?

A

one or more fatty acid chains attached to a glycerol.

46
Q

What are the different type of glycerides?

A

Monoglycerides – one fatty acid attached to a glycerol.
Diglycerides – two fatty acids attached to a glycerol.
Triglycerides – three fatty acids attached to a glycerol.

47
Q

What is a phospholipid?

A

formed by the attachment of two fatty acids plus a phosphate group to a glycerol.

48
Q

What is a steroid?

A

possess a backbone of four carbon rings but no fatty acid tails.

49
Q

What is cholesterol?

A

Cholesterol, an important steroid, is a component of plasma membranes in animal cells and can be modified to form sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) and vitamin D.

50
Q

What is a protein?

A

a naturally occurring, extremely complex substance that consists of amino acid residues joined by peptide bonds.

51
Q

What is an amino acid?

A

The monomer unit of a protein.

52
Q

What is a polypeptide?

A

A polymer of amino acids is often called a polypeptide to reflect the special peptide bonds that form between the amino acids during protein production.

53
Q

What are the different protein structures?

A

Primary structure- defined as ordered sequences of amino acids each linked together by peptide bonds to form a linear polypeptide chain.

Secondary structure- refers to the helical coil (as in hemoglobin) or sheet-like array (as in silk) that results from hydrogen bonding of side groups on the amino acid chains.

Tertiary structure- the result of folding due to interactions among R groups along the polypeptide chain and is sometimes called “supercoiling”.

Quaternary structure- describes the twisting of two or more polypeptide chains.

54
Q

What is denaturation?

A

process modifying the molecular structure of a protein.

55
Q

What is a enzyme?

A

proteins that facilitate chemical reactions by lowering the amount of energy required to start the reaction (activation energy.)

56
Q

What is an active site?

A

Enzymes possess an active site, a groove or pocket where substrates bind and undergo a chemical reaction.

57
Q

What is a nucleotide?

A

The monomer unit of a nucleic acid.

58
Q

What is the difference between DNA & RNA?

A

Sugar group – DNA contains deoxyribose sugar while RNA contains ribose sugar.
Nitrogen-containing bases – DNA contains a combination of A, C, G, and T while RNA contains a combination of A, C, G, and U.
Shape – DNA is a double-stranded helix while RNA is a single-stranded straight chain. DNA strands are arranged anti-parallel.
Function – DNA stores genetic information that controls protein synthesis while RNA performs protein synthesis as directed by DNA

59
Q

What are the components of a nucleotide?

A

Nucleotides are composed of three subunit molecules: a nitrogen-containing base, a five-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose), and a phosphate group.

60
Q

What are the base pairing rules for DNA & RNA?

A

A with T: the purine adenine (A) always pairs with the pyrimidine thymine (T)
C with G: the pyrimidine cytosine (C) always pairs with the purine guanine (G)

Biology 1010 (1 decks)

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