AP BIOLOGY EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
Water characteristics - Correct Answers -polar, cohesion (hold together), adhesion (hold
to another substance), surface tension, specific heat, heat of vaporization
Surface Tension - Correct Answers -A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break
the surface of a liquid
Specific Heat - Correct Answers -amount of heat absorbed or lost to change
temperature by 1C
Heat of Vaporization - Correct Answers -the quantity of heat required to convert 1 from
liquid to gas
Water polarity - Correct Answers -uneven sharing of electrons that produces a negative
charge near the oxygen atom and positive charges near each hydrogen atom
Water properties - Correct Answers -solvent, cohesive, thermal
Organic Chemistry - Correct Answers -the study of carbon compounds
Hydroxyl - Correct Answers -OH-, alcohol/ethanol
Carbonyl - Correct Answers -C=O, aldehyde, keytone
Carboxyl - Correct Answers -O=C-OH, carboxylic acid as in acetic acid
Amino - Correct Answers -H-N-H, amine as in tryptophan
Sulfhydryl - Correct Answers -R-SH
four organic compounds - Correct Answers -carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic
acids
Monosaccharides - Correct Answers -glucose, fructose, galactose
Disaccharides - Correct Answers -sucrose, lactose, maltose
Polysaccharides - Correct Answers -glycogen, starch, cellulose
,Glycogen - Correct Answers -storage polysaccharide form of glucose in animals
Starch - Correct Answers -storage polysaccharide form of glucose in plants
Cellulose - Correct Answers -Carbohydrate component of plant cell walls.
Condensation v. Hydrolysis - Correct Answers -Condensation: anabolic, water out
Hydrolysis: catabolic, water in
Protein (condensation/hydrolysis) - Correct Answers -Amino acid ---> dipeptide --->
polypeptide
Carbohydrates (condensation/hydrolysis) - Correct Answers -Monosaccharide --->
Disaccharide ---> Polysaccharide
Glycosidic bond - Correct Answers -bond formed by a dehydration reaction between two
monosaccharides (+ water in product)
2 families of nitrogenous bases - Correct Answers -pyrimidines and purines
Complementary base pairing - Correct Answers -A & T = 2 hydrogen bonds
C & G = 3 hydrogen bonds
DNA Structure - Correct Answers -Phosphodiester: between phosphates & sugars
Covalent: between sugar & base pair
Hydrogen: between base pairs
Protein Structure - Correct Answers -amino group-r side chain-carboxyl group
Primary - Correct Answers -amino acid sequence, peptide bonds
Secondary - Correct Answers -representing local structure, held by H+ bonds
Tertiary - Correct Answers -folding of a single protein
Quaternary - Correct Answers -protein complex
Two forms of proteins - Correct Answers -globular (insoluble, structural) and fibrous
(soluble, functional)
Fibrous proteins - Correct Answers -long, insoluble, structural proteins (keratin, elastin)
Globular proteins - Correct Answers -chunk, soluble (amylase, insulin, hemoglobin,
immunoglobin, transport pumps)
, Anabolic reactions - Correct Answers -build complex molecules from simpler ones,
endergonic, biosynthetic (example: photosynthesis)
Catabolic reactions - Correct Answers -breakdown of molecules, exergonic, degradative
(example: cellular respiration)
First Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -Energy can be transferred and
transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.
Second Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -Every energy transfer makes the
universe more disordered = increases entropy
Free energy - Correct Answers -amount of energy available to do work...ΔG =ΔH−TΔS
ΔG (Gibbs) - Correct Answers -change in free energy
ΔH (enthalpy) - Correct Answers -change in total energy
ΔS - Correct Answers -change in entropy
T - Correct Answers -temperature in K
ΔG =ΔH−TΔS - Correct Answers -tells us the difference between total energy (enthalpy)
and energy not available for doing work
Exergonic - Correct Answers -Chemical reactions that release energy
Endergonic - Correct Answers -Chemical reactions that absorb energy
Energy of Activation - Correct Answers -the amount of energy a molecule requires in
order to activate a rx(enzymes lower activation energy)
Substrate - Correct Answers -substance that binds to an enzyme
Active Site - Correct Answers -the specific "groove" of an enzyme in which the substrate
fits
Inhibitor - Correct Answers -chemical which inactivates an enzyme
Denaturation - Correct Answers -a structural change in a protein that results in a
permanent loss of biological properties (enzyme = non-functional)
Enzyme - Correct Answers -organic compound that acts as a biological catalyst by
changing the rate of a rx
ANSWERS
Water characteristics - Correct Answers -polar, cohesion (hold together), adhesion (hold
to another substance), surface tension, specific heat, heat of vaporization
Surface Tension - Correct Answers -A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break
the surface of a liquid
Specific Heat - Correct Answers -amount of heat absorbed or lost to change
temperature by 1C
Heat of Vaporization - Correct Answers -the quantity of heat required to convert 1 from
liquid to gas
Water polarity - Correct Answers -uneven sharing of electrons that produces a negative
charge near the oxygen atom and positive charges near each hydrogen atom
Water properties - Correct Answers -solvent, cohesive, thermal
Organic Chemistry - Correct Answers -the study of carbon compounds
Hydroxyl - Correct Answers -OH-, alcohol/ethanol
Carbonyl - Correct Answers -C=O, aldehyde, keytone
Carboxyl - Correct Answers -O=C-OH, carboxylic acid as in acetic acid
Amino - Correct Answers -H-N-H, amine as in tryptophan
Sulfhydryl - Correct Answers -R-SH
four organic compounds - Correct Answers -carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic
acids
Monosaccharides - Correct Answers -glucose, fructose, galactose
Disaccharides - Correct Answers -sucrose, lactose, maltose
Polysaccharides - Correct Answers -glycogen, starch, cellulose
,Glycogen - Correct Answers -storage polysaccharide form of glucose in animals
Starch - Correct Answers -storage polysaccharide form of glucose in plants
Cellulose - Correct Answers -Carbohydrate component of plant cell walls.
Condensation v. Hydrolysis - Correct Answers -Condensation: anabolic, water out
Hydrolysis: catabolic, water in
Protein (condensation/hydrolysis) - Correct Answers -Amino acid ---> dipeptide --->
polypeptide
Carbohydrates (condensation/hydrolysis) - Correct Answers -Monosaccharide --->
Disaccharide ---> Polysaccharide
Glycosidic bond - Correct Answers -bond formed by a dehydration reaction between two
monosaccharides (+ water in product)
2 families of nitrogenous bases - Correct Answers -pyrimidines and purines
Complementary base pairing - Correct Answers -A & T = 2 hydrogen bonds
C & G = 3 hydrogen bonds
DNA Structure - Correct Answers -Phosphodiester: between phosphates & sugars
Covalent: between sugar & base pair
Hydrogen: between base pairs
Protein Structure - Correct Answers -amino group-r side chain-carboxyl group
Primary - Correct Answers -amino acid sequence, peptide bonds
Secondary - Correct Answers -representing local structure, held by H+ bonds
Tertiary - Correct Answers -folding of a single protein
Quaternary - Correct Answers -protein complex
Two forms of proteins - Correct Answers -globular (insoluble, structural) and fibrous
(soluble, functional)
Fibrous proteins - Correct Answers -long, insoluble, structural proteins (keratin, elastin)
Globular proteins - Correct Answers -chunk, soluble (amylase, insulin, hemoglobin,
immunoglobin, transport pumps)
, Anabolic reactions - Correct Answers -build complex molecules from simpler ones,
endergonic, biosynthetic (example: photosynthesis)
Catabolic reactions - Correct Answers -breakdown of molecules, exergonic, degradative
(example: cellular respiration)
First Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -Energy can be transferred and
transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed.
Second Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -Every energy transfer makes the
universe more disordered = increases entropy
Free energy - Correct Answers -amount of energy available to do work...ΔG =ΔH−TΔS
ΔG (Gibbs) - Correct Answers -change in free energy
ΔH (enthalpy) - Correct Answers -change in total energy
ΔS - Correct Answers -change in entropy
T - Correct Answers -temperature in K
ΔG =ΔH−TΔS - Correct Answers -tells us the difference between total energy (enthalpy)
and energy not available for doing work
Exergonic - Correct Answers -Chemical reactions that release energy
Endergonic - Correct Answers -Chemical reactions that absorb energy
Energy of Activation - Correct Answers -the amount of energy a molecule requires in
order to activate a rx(enzymes lower activation energy)
Substrate - Correct Answers -substance that binds to an enzyme
Active Site - Correct Answers -the specific "groove" of an enzyme in which the substrate
fits
Inhibitor - Correct Answers -chemical which inactivates an enzyme
Denaturation - Correct Answers -a structural change in a protein that results in a
permanent loss of biological properties (enzyme = non-functional)
Enzyme - Correct Answers -organic compound that acts as a biological catalyst by
changing the rate of a rx
