Topic 1: Biological Molecules Flashcards
Monomers
Small, basic molecular units that can form a polymer (e.g. monosaccharides, amino acids and nucleotides).
Polymers
Large, complex molecules composed of long chains of monomers joint together.
Condensation reaction
Forms a chemical bond between monomers, releasing a molecule of water.
Hydrolysis reaction
Breaks the chemical bond between monomers using a water molecule.
Hydrogen bond
Weak bonds between a slightly positively charged hydrogen atom in one molecule and a slightly negatively shared atom in another molecule.
80%
What percentage of a cell’s contents does water make up?
Metabolite
A substance formed in or used by metabolism.
Metabolism
The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.
Metabolic rate
A reaction involved in metabolism.
Polar covalent bond
A covalent bond in which the atoms have an unequal attraction for electrons, and so the sharing is unequal.
Specific heat capacity
The energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1°C.
Latent heat of vaporisation
The thermal energy required for a liquid to vaporise to a gas or the amount that is released when a gas condenses to a liquid.
δ
Slightly
Bipolar molecule
A molecule which has a slightly negative charge at one end and a slghtly positive charge at the other.
Cohesion
The attraction between molecules of the same type
Sugar
A general term for monosaccharides and disaccharides.
Monosaccharides
The simplest sugars and the building blocks of carbohydrates
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
What elements do all carbohydrates contain?
Hexose sugar
A monosaccharide with six carbon atoms in each molecule (e.g. glucose)
Isomers
Molecules with the same molecular formula as each other, but with the atoms connected in a different way (different structures).
Hydroxyl group
-OH group
Disaccharide
Formed when two monosaccharides join together (in a condensation reaction).
Glycosidic bond
The bond that forms in a condensation reaction.
Maltose
A disaccharide formed by two α−glucose molecules joining together by a glycosidic bond (in a condensation reaction).