BiochemistryLesson 3 of 3 in the course The Chemical Level of Organization

Organic Molecules and Major Biomolecules: Structure and Function

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Organic compounds are found throughout living things and are essential to human structure and function. This lesson introduces the carbon chemistry that makes these compounds possible and explains how small molecular units can form large molecules.

Carbon has four electrons in its outer shell. Rather than gaining or losing four electrons, carbon typically shares electrons through covalent bonds. It can bond with other carbon atoms to form a carbon skeleton, often a chain, and also bonds with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements.

All flashcards

What is a functional group?
A group of atoms joined by covalent bonds that tends to behave as a unit in chemical reactions and influences a molecule's properties.
What is a hydrocarbon?
A molecule composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen.
How do monomers differ from polymers?
A monomer is a small molecular unit; a polymer is a larger molecule made from many linked monomers.
How does dehydration synthesis link monomers?
It forms a covalent bond between units while removing a hydrogen from one and a hydroxyl group from another to release water.
How does hydrolysis break a polymer?
Hydrolysis adds water across a bond, supplying hydrogen and hydroxyl groups to the separated units.

Quiz questions

  1. Why does carbon commonly form covalent bonds rather than gaining or losing four electrons?Answer: Sharing lets carbon complete its outer shell without transferring four electrons.
  2. What is a carbon skeleton?Answer: A framework of carbon atoms bonded together, often in a chain.
  3. Which nitrogen-containing functional group occurs in amino acids?Answer: The amino group, written −NH2-NH_2.
  4. Which feature distinguishes RNA from DNA?Answer: RNA contains ribose and uses uracil instead of thymine.
  5. What are the products when ATP is hydrolyzed by removal of its terminal phosphate?Answer: ADP, inorganic phosphate, and energy.

Based on Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts, Kelly A. Young, James A. Wise, Eddie Johnson, Brandon Poe, Dean H. Kruse, Oksana Korol, Jody E. Johnson, Mark Womble, Peter DeSaix (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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