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Nucleic acids – include DNA and RNA which are polymers of nucleotides (monomers). DNA is a long
chain of nucleotides. Their primary role is the storage, conveyance, and reproduction of instructions to
make a living thing.
Aside: many large molecules are made of chains of simpler units called monomers which combine to
form polymers. The chemical reaction that combines monomers to make polymers is referred as
condensation reaction or dehydration synthesis – which means the removal of a water molecule.
Proteins are also polymers or long chains of amino acids. Twenty different amino acids can be combined
into an infinite variety of proteins. The different functional groups distinguishing the different amino
acids will determine the shape the protein takes. Four levels of structure in a protein:
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The order of the amino acids in a chain.
How that chain folds into either a pleated sheet or a helix.
How that folded chain forms into a globular protein.
How that globular protein interacts with another protein.
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Most living organisms consist of one or more cells, have changed or evolved over time, and can
regulate their internal environment.
The total chemical activity of a living organism is called its metabolism.
In contrast to eukaryotic cells, prokaryotes lack intracellular compartments referred to as
organelles.
The chemical properties of an element are determined by the number of electrons in its valence
shell.
Oxygen and carbon are defined as different elements because they have atoms with a different
number of protons.
The ability to use energy from sunlight to synthesize complex molecules is knows as
photosynthesis.
Frogs eat insects, insects ingest the tissue of plant leaves, and plants derive their energy form
the sun through photosynthesis. Assuming that energy conversions are not 100 % efficient, the
total biomass of animals should be less than that of plants.
A group of individuals of the same species that interact is called a population; a number of such
groups that live and interact in the same area are called a community; and the later groupings
along with the nonliving environment, constitute the ecosystem.
The sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of any given atom is called its atomic mass.
Single-celled organisms that lack discrete intracellular compartments belong to the domains
Archaea and Bacteria.
A lipid with a phosphate group is called a phospholipid.
The reaction H-A-OH + H-B-OH H-A-B-H + H2O represents a condensation reaction.
Covalent bonds in which electrons are shared unequally are called polar bonds.
Starch is a polymer of glucose subunits. The subunits of any polymer are called monomers.
The attraction between a slight positive charge on a hydrogen atom and the slight negative
charge of nearby electronegative atom is a hydrogen bond.