Chapter 2

Chemical Basis of Living Organisms

2.1 Significance of Carbon

____________
Most important element to life
Main element in _________ compounds
Compounds found mainly in living things
Has ability to form stable _____ with many elements,
including itself
By sharing electrons, each carbon can bond to ____
other atoms
By doing so, it can branch in up to four directions
Nearly ___ million carbon-based compounds in living
things

2.1 Continued
_______________
Substance that consists of two or more ___________
Has ____________ composition
Smallest particle of compound called a ___________
Ex: 1 molecule of water (________)
Always has one atom of oxygen and two atoms of
hydrogen
(water molecule is _____________)

___________________
Force that holds molecules together

______________________
Process that changes some chemical substances into
others (needed to form a compound or break one down)

2.1 Continued
______________ Groups
Characteristic molecules
(group of atoms) that give
distinctive ____________
Attached to __________
skeleton in biological
molecules
Are ______, which tends
to make compounds
_____________ (waterloving; soluble/dissolves
in water)

2.1 Continued
The functional groups are:
__________ group consists of a hydrogen

bonded to an oxygen
Organic compounds containing hydroxyl
groups are called _____________

2.1 Continued
____________ group a carbon linked by a
double bond to an oxygen atom
Carbonyl group at the end of a carbon
skeleton = _____________
Carbonyl group within the chain= _________

_________ molecules contain carbonyl &

hydroxyl groups

2.1 Continued
___________ groupconsists of a carbon
double-bonded to both an oxygen and a
hydroxyl group
Carboxyl group acts like an ______ (donate
H+ ions) compounds with this group called
_______________________

2.1 Continued
_________ groupcomposed of a nitrogen
bonded to two hydrogen atoms and the carbon
skeleton
Compounds containing amino acids act as
__________
Organic compounds with an amino group are
called ____________

2.1 Continued
_____________ groupconsists of a
phosphorus atom bonded to four oxygen
atoms
Compounds with phosphate groups are
called __________________ & are often
involved in energy transfers (ATP)

2.1 Continued
___________ group consists of a carbon
bonded to three hydrogen atoms
Are non-polar & __________________
Do affect a molecules function by affecting
_________
Compounds with methyl groups are called
______________________

2.1 Continued
There are _______ classes of biological molecules
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins & nucleic acids
They are often called ________________ because
of their large size
They are also called __________ because they are
made from identical building blocks strung together
(long chains of repeating units)
The building blocks are called _____________

2.1 Continued
______________ Reaction (dehydration synthesis)
A putting together while ____________________
Water is removed as two monomers join together
This is how polymers form

_______________
A breaking down by _______________
Water is added to a polymer to break it apart into smaller
monomers

2.2 Carbohydrates
____________________
Most ____________ type of organic compound such
as a starch or sugar
Contain carbon, hydrogen & oxygen
Roughly a __________ ratio / formula (CH2O)n
Used to ______________
Monomer = _________________ = one simple sugar
Ex= _____________ (C6H12O6)
Used for energy (ATP) by cells of most organisms
& is a product of photosynthesis

2.2 Continued
_____________ is another monosaccharide
Has same chemical formula as glucose, but atoms
arranged differently
Fructose and glucose would be called
___________ because of this
The different arrangements will affect the
_____________ of the monosaccharides

2.2 Continued
If two monosaccharides bond together, they form a
carbohydrate called a __________________
Ex: ___________ (table sugar)
Made up of glucose + fructose

Monosaccharides & disaccharides are also called

__________ sugars
Provide the major source of energy to living cells

2.2 Continued
____________________
_____________ carbohydrate
Forms when simple sugars bind together in a chain
Can contain a few simple sugars or thousands
Two main functions: ________________________
____________________________
Ex: starch, glycogen (storage) AND cellulose, chitin
(structural)

2.3 Lipids
___________
Organic compound such as ______ or ______
Contain carbon, hydrogen & oxygen
Consist of repeating units called _______________
Organic compounds with formula CH3(CH2)nCOOH
n usually ranges from 2-28 & always even
__________________= another name for fat
1 glycerol + 3 fatty acids

2.3 Continued
_____________ fatty acid (single bonds between
carbons)
Have _______________ number of hydrogen atoms
Form _________chains/ packed together tightly/ store
energy in compact form _____ at room temperature
_________ fats may contribute to cardiovascular
disease
________________ fatty acid (can have double/triple
bonds between carbons)
Have __________ than the maximum number of
hydrogen atoms because each bond doesnt have an
H attached to it
Chains _______/ cannot be packed tightly/ ________
at room temperature
(________- oils)

2.3 Continued
Types of Lipids
_________________
Main form stored energy in animals
_____________________
Major component of __________________
(phospholipid bilayer)
Glycerol, 2 fatty acids & phosphate group
_____________
Contain ________ fused ___________
________________- steroid part of animal cell
membranes & starting material for sex hormones
Chemical messengers & other roles

2.3 Continued
Lipids & Diet
A gram of lipids supplies more than _______ as much
energy as a gram of carbohydrates or proteins
____________ fatty acids fatty acids that you must
consume through your diet
Ex: ________-3 & ________-6 fatty acids needed for
important biological processes
Too many lipids in diet = bad
Especially from ___________ fatty acids, trans fats &
cholesterol
Increase risk for ______________ disease
Narrowing of arteries from cholesterol

2.4 Proteins
______________
Organic compound made up of monomer called
____________ (have amino group & carboxyl group)
_____ different amino acids commonly found in
proteins of living organisms
Proteins can range from hundreds to thousands of
amino acids
Contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen & __________
Functions in transporting, signaling, receiving,
catalyzing, storing, defending & allowing for
movement

2.4 Continued
When amino acids bind together, they form a long
chain called a ____________________
The bond between neighboring amino acids is called
a ______________________
A protein consists of one or more polypeptide chains
A protein may have up to ______________________
Its primary structure is its sequence of amino acids

2.4 Continued
Functions of Proteins
_____________ proteins help cells keep their shape
Some make up ___________ tissue
Transport proteins transport items in & out of cell
Used for sending & receiving signals
___________ organic catalysts proteins that speed
up chemical reactions in cells
_______________- bind to foreign substances &
target them for destruction
Carry messages or transport
Ex: _______________- protein on human red blood cells
which binds with and carries oxygen

2.4 Continued
Proteins & Diet
Necessary for life
Dietary proteins can be
broken down & rearranged to
build new proteins
Humans can make all but __
amino acids
These are called ________
amino acids because they
must be obtained in our
diets

2.5 Nucleic Acids

___________________
Organic compound built of small units called
___________________
Many nucleotides bind together to form a chain
called a ___________________
______(deoxyribonucleic acid) has two
polynucleotide chains and ____ (ribonucleic
acid) has one
Contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen &
________________
Contains the instructions for life

2.5 Continued
Structure of Nucleic Acids
Nucleotide
1. 5-carbon __________
2. _____________ group
3. ______________ base
Cytosine (C), adenine (A), guanine (G) and either
thymine (T) or uracil (U)

Sugar & phosphate make up backbone (handrails)

Nitrogen bases stick out from backbone (steps)

__________ bonds hold base

pairs together

2.5 Continued
Complementary base pairs
In DNA
A pairs with __
T pairs with __
C pairs with __
G pairs with __
In RNA
A pairs with __
U pairs with __
C pairs with __
G pairs with __

2.5 Continued
Binding of complementary bases allows DNA
molecules to take their well-known shape, called a
_________________ (spiral staircase)
The sequence of the bases in DNA is a code that
carries instructions for making _____________
DNA RNA Protein

2.6 Biochemical Reactions

_____________________
Process that changes some chemical substance into
others
Contains _________ (starts the chemical reaction) and
____________ (result of chemical reaction)
During the reaction, reactants are used up to make
the product
__________________- symbolic representation of the
chemical reaction at hand (reactants to left of arrow &
products to the right)
There is a conservation of matter in a reaction (same
number of atoms on both sides of arrow)

2.9 Enzymes
________________
Biological catalysts that speed up biochemical reactions
____________ chemical that speeds up chemical
reactions
An organisms catalysts are its enzymes
They enter a reaction, cause a change, and exit the
reaction _____________
They may be used over & over
Enzymes are highly _________ for particular chemical
reactions
Enzymes are extremely ____________
Can catalyze up to several million reactions per second
An example of where enzymes are needed is in food
digestion

2.10 Enzyme Function

Enzymes work by ___________ the activation energy
of chemical reactions
____________ energy (EA)is the energy needed to
start a chemical reaction (break or form bonds)
Enzymes generally lower activation energy by
reducing the energy needed for reactants to come
together & react
(not waiting for reactants to collide at random)
Activities of enzymes depend on ___________, __, etc
Ex: pepsin vs trypsin

2.10 Continued
Each enzyme only works on a particular target
molecule called the _____________
The enzyme has an _______________ where the
enzyme interacts with the enzymes substrate to
break apart or join substances

2.11 Water & Life

Water is needed by all known forms of life
Human body is about ________ water
Water dissolves many substances that organisms
need & is necessary for many biochemical
reactions
Ex: _____________ water as reactant
Ex: ____________________- water as product

Just about all life processes depend on water!

2.12 Acids & Bases in Biology

_____________ mixture of two or more substances
that has the same composition throughout
Some are acids & some are bases
______ electrically charged atom or molecule
___________- the concentration of hydronium ions in
a solution H3O+
Acidity measured on scale called ____ scale (0-14)
_________ lower than 7; taste sour (H+ or H3O+)
_________- greater than 7; bitter taste (OH-)
_________- 7
________- substance that minimizes changes in pH

 Which is more acidic, a ph of 3 or 5? 3