Practice Exam 1 for BIOL/CHEM 3361.

002

The actual exam will contain 40 multiple choice questions (total of 80 points) and several
short answers (total of 20 points).

Example Exam 1 Multiple Choice Questions

1. Calculate the final pH of a solution made by the addition of 20 ml of 30 mM NaOH to 20 ml

of 20 mM phosphoric acid? (For H3PO4, pKa1 = 2.12, pKa2 = 7.21, pKa3 = 12.32)
a. 4.66
b. 5.33
c. 6.21
d. 7.21

2. All of the statements about the classification of these amino acids are correct EXCEPT:

a. Aspartic acid and asparagine are acidic amino acids.

b. Alanine and valine are neutral, nonpolar amino acids.
c. Serine and glutamine are polar, uncharged amino acids.
d. Lysine and arginine are basic amino acids.

3. Enthalpy change, H, is:

a. the sum of heat absorbed and work.

b. a measure of disorder in a system.
c. determined by pressure change at a constant temperature.
d. equal to the heat transferred at constant pressure and volume.

4. What makes carbon such an abundant element in biomolecules?

a. It can form up to five bonds by sharing its electrons.

b. It forms only single bonds.
c. It forms stable covalent bonds by electron pair sharing.
d. It does not usually bond to other carbons, allowing a more diverse combination of
elements.

5. At physiological pH, the ratio of positively to negatively charged amino acid residues in
proteins in general is approximately

a. 3:1
b. 2:1
c. 1:1
d. 1:2
6. The energy of a charge-charge interaction is:

a. less in water than acetic acid (dielectric constant of ~6)

b. angle-dependent
c. inversely proportional to the distance between the charges squared
d. independent of the strength of the charges

7. Which of the following peptides would have the largest extinction coefficient at 280 nm?

a. PAVYWC
b. WNAWMG
c. PFWPGA
d. SFAFTT

8. If the side chain pka of an Asp residue is shifted to 4.5 by the microenvironment, what fraction
of the residue will exist as the conjugate base at pH 5.5?

a. 0.09
b. 0.50
c. 0.82
d. 0.91

9. Which of the following properly ranks the non-covalent interactions in order of increasing
strength?

a. van der Waals, hydrogen bond, ionic

b. van der Waals, ionic, hydrogen bond
c. hydrogen bond, van der Waals, ionic
d. cannot be determined since ionic interactions and hydrogen bonds often vary in
strength

10. Halophiles:

a. have genes and metabolic pathways similar to eukarya

b. are visually similar to bacteria
c. can survive in acidic conditions
d. a and b

11. The pKa of the cysteine side chain ____ group is 8.32, so it is about 11% deprotonated at pH
____.

a. acid, 3.2
b. amino, 8.5
c. hydroxyl, 10.2
d. sulfhydryl, 7.4
12. The tetrameric structure of hemoglobin is an example of which level of protein structure?

a. 1st
b. 2nd
c. 3rd
d. 4th

13. For the reaction below at 25 C, G = -18 kJ/mol. What is Keq for this reaction? R is 8.31
J/Kmol
AC+D
a. 2.6 x 104
b. 2.6 x 104 M
c. 1.4 x 103
d. 1.4 x 103 M

14. For the reaction below at 25 C, G = -52 kJ/mol and H = -12 kJ/ mol. What is S for
this reaction? R is 8.31 J/Kmol
AC+D
a. +134 J/K mol
b. -134 J/K mol
c. - 24 J/K mol
d. +37 J/K mol

15. If the conjugate [base]/[ acid] ratio for a weak acid is 1000/1, what is the pH of the solution?

a. pI + 1
b. pKa + 2
c. pKa + 3
d. pI - 2

16. An interaction between two subunits of a protein was determined to have a G= -57.05
kJ/mol. What is the Keq for the reaction at 25C?

a. 1.02
b. 1.32
c. 10-10
d. 1010

17. Which of the following proteins would emerge first from a CM-cellulose column run at pH
6.5?

a. A (Mr 23,500; pI 7.0)

b. B (Mr 125, 200; pI 7.5)
c. C (Mr 93,650; pI 8.3)
d. D (Mr 54,500; pI 9.1)
18. Pure liquid water consists of H2O molecules:

a. held in a rigid three-dimensional network.

b. with local preference for linear geometry.
c. with large numbers of strained or broken hydrogen bonds.
d. which do not switch H-bonds readily.

19. Based upon the following reactions, what would be the G for the formation of ATP from
phosphoenolpyruvate and ADP?

ATP > ADP + Pi G = -31.5 kJ/mol

phosphoenolpyruvate > pyruvate + Pi G = -62.2 kJ/mol

a. -93.7 kJ/mol
b. -30.7 kJ/mol
c. +30.7 kJ/mol
d. +93.7 kJ/mol

20. All are examples of weak electrolytes EXCEPT:

a. hydrochloric acid.
b. acetic acid.
c. lactic acid.
d. phosphoric acid.

21. What is the G for the following reaction at 37C given that [ATP] = 8 mM, [AMP] = 6
mM, [Pi] = 2 mM and G = -45.0 kJ/mol.
ATP + H2O AMP + 2Pi + H+

a. -45.0 kJ/mol
b. -77.8 kJ/mol
c. -61.8 kJ/mol
d. -5.71 kJ/mol

22. Molecules of a given protein have all EXCEPT:

a. a fixed amino acid composition.

b. a defined amino acid sequence.
c. a sequence read from C-terminal end to N-terminal end.
d. an invariant molecular weight.
e. a nucleotide sequence from which they are encoded.

23. A Vant Hoff Plot with a negative slope indicates:

a. spontaneous reaction
b. non-spontaneous reaction
 c. endothermic reaction
d. exothermic reaction

24. H is -50 kJ/mol and S is -60 kJ/mol at 25C. The reaction is:

a. non-spontaneous because of an entropic penalty

b. non-spontaneous because of an enthalpic penalty
c. a and b
d. spontaneous and driven by entropy

Example Exam 1 Short Answer Questions

25. (5pts) Draw the complete structure of a peptide with sequence ADI at pH 7.5. Label any
charges and peptide bonds.

26. (2.5 pts) Describe how you would use ion exchange chromatography to purify Protein P that
has a molecular weight of 50 kDa and a pI of 8.5. Be sure to mention the resin and any important
details of the buffers. (2.5 pts)

27. (2.5 pts) Explain how hydrophobic interactions make the entropy of a system more favorable.