AND A’S
macromolecules - ANSWER-A giant molecule in a living organism formed by the
joining of smaller molecules: a protein, carbohydrate, or nucleic acid.
polymer - ANSWER-a long molecule consisting of many similar or identical building
blocks linked by covalent bonds
monomers - ANSWER-repeating units that serve as the building blocks of a polymer
enzymes - ANSWER-specialized macromolecules that speed up chemical reactions
in cells
dehydration reaction - ANSWER-A chemical reaction in which two molecules
covalently bond to each other with the removal of a water molecule.
hydrolysis - ANSWER-A chemical reaction that breaks bonds between two
molecules by the addition of water; functions in disassembly of polymers to
monomers.
carbohydrates - ANSWER-Organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen in a ratio of one carbon atom to two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom.
They exist as monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.
monosaccharides - ANSWER-The simplest carbohydrate, active alone or serving as
a monomer for disaccharides and polysaccharides. Also known as simple sugars,
the molecular formulas of are generally some multiple of CH2O.
aldose - ANSWER-a monosaccharide sugar that contains the aldehyde group or is
hemiacetal
ketose - ANSWER-any monosaccharide sugar that contains a ketone group or its
hemiacetal
disaccharide - ANSWER-any of a variety of carbohydrates that yield two
monosaccharide molecules on complete hydrolysis
glycosidic linkage - ANSWER-A covalent bond formed between two
monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction. - sucrose, glucose
polysaccharides - ANSWER-macromolecules, polymers with a few hundred to a few
thousand monosaccharides joined by glycosidic linkages - starch, cellulose
starch - ANSWER-A storage polysaccharide in plants consisting entirely of glucose.
, glycogen - ANSWER-an extensively branched glucose storage polysaccharide found
in the liver and muscle of animals; the animal equivalent of starch
cellulose - ANSWER-a structural polysaccharide of plant cell walls, consisting of
glucose monomers joined by β glycosidic linkages.
chitin - ANSWER-complex carbohydrate that makes up the cell walls of fungi; also
found in the external skeletons of arthropods
lipids - ANSWER-Large, non-polar organic molecules which do not dissolve in water.
- fats, phospholipids, steroids, waxes.
fat - ANSWER-organic compound consisting of a three-carbon backbone (glycerol)
attached to three fatty acids
fatty acids - ANSWER-A long carbon chain carboxylic acid. Fatty acids vary in length
and in the number and location of double bonds; three fatty acids linked to a glycerol
molecule form fat.
triacylglycerol - ANSWER-three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule; also
called a fat or a triglyceride.
saturated fatty acid - ANSWER-A fatty acid in which all carbons in the hydrocarbon
tail are connected by single bonds, thus maximizing the number of hydrogen atoms
that can attach to the carbon skeleton.
unsaturated fatty acid - ANSWER-a fatty acid whose carbon chain can absorb
additional hydrogen atoms
trans fats - ANSWER-made by hydrogenating unsaturated fats, considered "bad
fats"; can lead to clogged arteries
phospholipids - ANSWER-A molecule that is a constituent of the inner bilayer of
biological membranes, having a polar, hydrophilic head and a nonpolar, hydrophobic
tail.
steroids - ANSWER-lipids characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four
fused rings
cholesterol - ANSWER-A steroid that forms an essential component of animal cell
membranes and acts as a precursor molecule for the synthesis of other biologically
important steroids.
catalyst - ANSWER-substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction
polypeptide - ANSWER-hundreds of amino acids bonded together in a long chain,
sequence of amino acids determines protein