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Chemicals of Life - Notes

The document discusses the three main nutrients - carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. It provides details on the structure and functions of each: 1) Carbohydrates include sugars and starches, are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and can be monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides. 2) Proteins perform structural and enzymatic roles, are made of amino acid chains that take on specific shapes, and denature when heated. 3) Lipids provide energy storage and insulation, and can be fats or oils depending on whether they are solid or liquid at room temperature.

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140 views4 pages

Chemicals of Life - Notes

The document discusses the three main nutrients - carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. It provides details on the structure and functions of each: 1) Carbohydrates include sugars and starches, are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and can be monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides. 2) Proteins perform structural and enzymatic roles, are made of amino acid chains that take on specific shapes, and denature when heated. 3) Lipids provide energy storage and insulation, and can be fats or oils depending on whether they are solid or liquid at room temperature.

Uploaded by

hiba.alkubaisy
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CHEMICALS OF LIFE – BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES -NOTES

A nutrient is a substance which is needed for growth, repair and metabolism. The
three main nutrients are:

 carbohydrates
 proteins
 lipids (fats and oils)
These nutrients are all examples of organic chemicals. This means that they all
contain carbon atoms, covalently bonded to the atoms of other elements.

Carbohydrates:
 May be simple, soluble sugars or complex materials like starch and cellulose
 All contains C,H,O only
 Glucose – C6H12O6
Monosaccharides – sugars with a single carbon ring, eg: glucose, fructose.
Disaccharide – sugars with two carbon rings, eg. maltose, sucrose.
Polysaccharide – many glucose molecules joined together, eg. glycogen (found in
animals), starch (found in plants).
Cellulose – consists of even longer chains of glucose molecules.
Mono- and disaccharides are readily soluble in water.Polysaccharides are not readily
soluble in water.

Lipids:

 Fats = solid
 Oils = liquid
Lipids are large molecules made from smaller units of fatty acids and glycerol.

Q. State three ways in which the human body uses fat.3

1 (for) energy / energy source / respiration ;


2 storage / stored ; (fat or vitamins or energy)
3 insulation / reduce heat loss / maintains temperature / ref to myelin ;
4 protection (against mechanical damage) / cushions organs / shock
Absorber
Proteins:

Structural proteins: proteins contributing to the structure of the cells, eg. to the cell
membranes, the mitochondria, ribosomes and chromosomes.

Enzymes: control the chemical reactions that keep the cell alive. Present in the
membrane systems, in the mitochondria, in special vacuoles and in the fluid part of
the cytoplasm.

Proteins are large molecules made from smaller units of amino acids.There are
about 20 different amino acids in animal protein, including alanine, leucine, valine,
glutamine, cysteine, glycine and lysine.
 A small protein molecule might be made up from a chain consisting of a hundred or
so amino acids.
 Each type of protein has its amino acids arranged in a particular sequence.
 The chain of amino acids in a protein takes up a particular shape as a result of
cross-linkage.
 Cross-linkage form between amino acids that are not neighbours.
The shape and structure of a protein molecule has a very important effect on its
reactions with substances.

 Active site of enzymes


 Binding site of Antibodies
Denature – when a protein is heated over 50’C, the cross-linkages in its molecules
break down; the protein molecules lose their shape and will not usually regain it even
when cooled.
Eg. Egg white.

Structure of DNA
 Made up of long chains of nucleotides, forming into two strands.
 A Nucleotide is a 5-carbon sugar molecule joined to a phosphate group (-PO 4-3)
and a nitrogen base
 In DNA the sugar is deoxyribose
 The nitrogen base is either adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C) or guanine (G).
The nucleotides are joined by their phosphate groups to form long chain, often
thousands of nucleotides long. The phosphate and sugar molecules are the same all
the way down the chain but the bases may be any one of the four listed.

The DNA in a chromosome consist of two strands (chains of nucleotides) held


together by chemical bonds between the bases.

The size of the molecules ensures that A always pairs with T, and C pairs with G.

The double strand is twisted to form a helix.


Q. Draw and annotate a diagram to show the structure of DNA.3

1 two strands twisted to form helix ;


2 cross-links between the strands ;
3 A joins with T / C joins with G ;
4 all labels correct

Food tests:

 Test for starch – Starch is detected using Iodine solution. Add few drops of
Iodine solution to the test sample.
This turns blue-black in the presence of starch.
 Test for reducing sugar – Reducing sugars are detected using Benedict’s
solution. To 1 cm3 of test sample an equal volume of Benedict’s solution is
added . Heat the mixture for 2 minutes in a boiling water bath.
The solution will change from clear blue to cloudy green, then yellow and
finally to a brick - red precipitate of copper oxide.
 Test for protein – Proteins are detected using Biuret reagent. To 1 cm 3 of
test sample equal volume of Biuret reagent is added and mixed well.
This turns purple colour when mixed with protein.
 Test for lipids – Lipids are detected using the Emulsion test. The test
substance is mixed with 5 cm3 of ethanol, an equal volume of distilled
water is added, a milky-white emulsion forms if the test substance
contains lipids
 Test for vitamin C – Vit. C is detected using the DCPIP test. Draw up 2 cm3
of fresh lemon juice into a plastic syringe. Add into a test tube with 2 cm 3 of a
0.1% solution of DCPIP (a blue dye). The DCPIP will suddenly become
colourless as the juice is added.

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