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Macromolecules of life

Pre-laboratory questions

1. The four types of macromolecules

Nucleic acids

They are biological molecules as they include deoxyribonucleic acid as well as

ribonucleic acid. The DNA is composed of genetic instructions that are mainly for functioning as

well as the development of every living organism (He, pp. 35). The RNA is mainly fundamental

in converting any genetic information from DNA direct into proteins.

Carbohydrates

A carbohydrate is defined as an organic compound that is consisted of oxygen atoms,

hydrogen as well as carbon. The fundamental carbohydrates are the groups of the glucose called

monosaccharides as they play an important role in storing intermediate-term as well as short-

term energy (Hughes, pp. 533).

Lipids

These are macromolecules that normally occur naturally and they include fats, sterols,

waxes and fat-soluble vitamins. They are very crucial for storing energy.
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Proteins

Proteins are said to be organic compounds that are mainly composed of polymers of

amino acids. They play a very important role in building as well as maintaining the muscles and

tissues in the body.

2. Definition of functional group

Functional group is a precise atom group that is within molecules and plays a crucial role

in any typical reaction (chemical) of the respective molecules.

Questions (Laboratory)

Carbohydrates

1. hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon atom model parts tend to differ

apart from their color.

The atomic radius of the hydrogen atom is 0.53, the nitrogen atom radius is 0.56, the

atomic radius of oxygen is 0.48, a carbon atom is 0.67 and the atomic radius of the phosphorus

atom is 0.98. The atomic radius of Phosphorus is bigger compared to the others.

2. comparison between the methane model to its formula (structural)

The methane model in the form of displayed formulae because it tends to indicate that the

bonds in the molecular as the lines that are individual. In this case, each line tends to represent a

certain pair of shared electrons. Below is an example of the methane and its structure (Barsanti,

2014).
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3. The ratio of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms in either glucose.

A chemical formula of glucose is C6H12O6 – ratio is 6:12:6.

4. below is the formula (chemical):

Glucose- C6H12O6

Maltose- C12H22O11

Fructose- C6H12O12

Sucrose- C12H22O11

Fats

1. Molecules of water that is produced when glycerol tributyrate is formed

In the formation a glycerol tributyrate with a reaction that involves three molecules of

stearic acid combining with one molecule of glycerol, the chemical reaction yields three

molecules of water.

3CH3(CH2)16COOH + C3H8O3 → C15H26O6 + 3H2O

2. The differences between triglyceride and a carbohydrate

Triglycerides are esters of fatty acids together with glycerol while carbohydrate is a

polymer of monosaccharide. Furthermore, triglycerides are hydrophobic while most of the

carbohydrates tend to be hydrophilic (Hughes, pp. 539).

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Protein

1. The functional groups that are found in amino acids structure

Glycine (-H)

Alanine (-CH3)

Serine (-CH2OH)

Aspartic acid (-CH2COOH)

Lysine (-CH2CH2CH2CH2NH2)

Cysteine (-CH2SH)

2. The differences between amino acids and fatty acids?

Amino acids are compounds that contain both the carboxyl group with an amino acid

group that is attached to a carbon atom. Fatty acids, on the other hand, are long-chain carboxylic

acids containing only one carboxyl group with long hydrocarbon chain that is hydrophobic (He,

pp. 37).

3. Differences between polypeptide and polysaccharide

A polypeptide is a protein, a long chain of amino acids and is made of hydrogen, carbon,

oxygen as well as nitrogen and other elements that are not in ratio form. On the other, a

polysaccharide is the carbohydrate, a long chain of monosaccharides and is made of oxygen,

carbon and hydrogen that is in a ratio of 1:2:1 (He, p 35).

4. The reason as to why formation of a peptide bond

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Peptide bond plays a fundamental role as held together with chains of polypeptides as

well as proteins together. In other words, it acts as the backbone of PNA.

Nucleic acids

1. What is common between nucleic acid formed

Both make ribonucleic acid as well as the deoxyribonucleic acid that pay a fundamental

role in genetic inheritance.

2. The difference between adenine and thymine

Adenine is a purine and has a double carbon-nitrogen ring that has four nitrogen atoms.

Thymine is a pyrimidine with only one carbon-nitrogen ring that has two nitrogen atoms.

Adenines are bigger in size when compared to thymine (Hughes, pp. 535).

3. The difference between uracil and thymine

The atom of thymine (C5) contains a methyl group (-CH3) that is attached to it which is

not fund in uracil

4. The structure of ATP and how the structure is related to its function

ATP is made of chain three phosphates that are attached to an adenosine at one of the

ends. In addition, the phosphate bonds contain high energy bonds that are very crucial in energy

transfer. The adenine is a nitrogenous base that is stable by itself and has the ability to confer
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stability to AMP (Hughes, pp. 530). Furthermore, the Hydroxyl group is very important in the

process of forming cyclic AMP.

Work cited

Barsanti, Laura, and Paolo Gualtieri. Algae: anatomy, biochemistry, and biotechnology. CRC

press, 2014.

He, Tao-Bin, et al. "Structural characterization and immunomodulation activity of

polysaccharide from Dendrobium officinale." International journal of biological

macromolecules 83 (2016): 34-41.

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Hughes, Tyler B., et al. "Modeling reactivity to biological macromolecules with a deep multitask

network." ACS central science 2.8 (2016): 529-537.