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51 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What is the definition of biochemistry? |
The description of structure, organization, and function of life at the molecular level |
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What is an example of how biochemistry is applied to medicine/disease? |
Sickle cell anemia |
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What is an example of how biochemistry is applied to pharmacology/toxicology? |
Cancer chemotherapy/cis-platin |
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What is an example of how biochemistry is applied to nutrition? |
Vitamins |
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What is an example of how biochemistry is applied to agriculture? |
Herbicides, pesticides, GMOs |
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What is an example of how biochemistry is applied to the production of chemicals? |
Catalysts/enzymes |
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What are the four most abundant elements in biological molecules? |
1. Carbon 2. Hydrogen 3. Nitrogen 4. Oxygen |
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What are some elements that are moderately abundant in biological molecules? |
Sodium Magnesium Potassium Calcium Phosphorus Sulfur Chlorine |
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What are some elements that are only present in trace amounts in biological molecules? |
Boron Flourine Aluminum Silicon Vanadium Chromium |
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What are the building blocks of proteins? |
Amino acids |
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What three components does an amino acid contain? |
1. Amino group 2. Carboxylic acid group 3. Side chain |
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What are monosaccharides and sugars classified as? |
Carbohydrates |
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What is the general chemical formula of a carbohydrate? |
(CH2O)n, where n is greater than or equal to 3 |
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In what two ways can a carbohydrate be drawn? |
1. Fisher projection (linear) 2. Hawthorn projection (cyclical) |
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How are carbohydrates linked? |
Via glycosidic bonds |
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What are the building blocks of nucleic acids? |
Nucleotides |
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What are the three main components of nucleotides? |
1. Phosphate groups 2. Sugar (ribose) 3. Base (changes from five different options) |
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How do nucleotide residues link? |
Via phosphodiester bonds |
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What are fats classified as? |
Lipids |
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What is one of the most important lipids in human health? |
Cholesterol |
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Why do monomers connect? |
To form larger structures |
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When monomers connect to form larger structures, what are these larger structures called? |
Polymers |
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Once part of a polymer, what is a monomer referred to as? |
Residue |
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What is enthalpy and what units is it measured in? |
The heat content of a system Units = J . mol-1 |
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What is entropy and what units is it measured in? |
A measure of the system's disorder or randomness Units = J . K-1mol-1 |
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What does deltaG refer to? |
Gibbs free energy change |
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What does deltaH refer to? |
Enthalpy change |
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What does deltaS refer to? |
Entropy change |
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What is the equation to calculate Gibbs free energy change? |
deltaG = deltaH - T(deltaS) where T = temperature in Kelvin |
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What is the definition of Gibbs free energy change? |
A measure of the free energy of a system based on enthalpy (H) and entropy(S) |
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What are the units for deltaG? |
Units = J . mol-1 |
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What does it mean for a reaction when deltaG is < 0? |
The reaction is spontaneous |
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What does it mean for a reaction when deltaG is > 0? |
The reaction is nonspontaneous |
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What is an exergonic reaction? |
A spontaneous reaction |
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What is an endergonic reaction? |
A nonspontaneous reaction |
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Describe this graph and what occurs because of it? |
deltaG is positive for the A to B transition deltaG is negative for the B to C transition The reactions will be coupled |
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Why do coupled reaction occur? |
Nonspontaneous reactions do not generally occur Spontaneous reactions can be coupled with nonspontaneous reactions so that the net reaction occurs spontaneously |
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T or F: The energy from photosynthesis does not involve a coupled chemical reaction |
False |
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What are the major and minor functions of proteins? |
Major functions: Carry out metabolic reactions and support cellular structures Minor function: Store energy |
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What are the major and minor functions of nucleic acids? |
Major function: Encode information Minor functions: Carry out metabolic reactions and support cellular structures |
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What are the major and minor functions of polysaccharides? |
Major functions: Store energy and support cellular structures Minor function: Encode information |
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What is the hypothesis for the synthesis of biological materials from lightning? |
Experiment to determine if it would be possible for H2, H2O, NH3, and CH4 to give rise to amino acids when struck by lightning |
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What is the hypothesis for the formation of polymers from a mineral surface? |
Positively charged clay is able to promote the polymerization of the nucleotides into RNA indicating that the initial polymerization of nucleotides could have been facilitated by a charged mineral surface |
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What four steps occur for the hypothesis for the self-replication of polymers? |
1. The polyA molecule serves as a template for the synthesis of a polymer containing uracil nucleotides(U), which are complementary to adenine nucleotides 2. The two polymer chains separate 3. The polyU molecule serves as a template for the synthesis of a new complementary polyA chain 4. The chains again separate and the polyU polymer is discarded, leaving the original polyA molecule and its exact copy |
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What are prokaryotes? |
Small, unicellular organisms that lack a discrete nucleus and have no internal membrane system |
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What are bacteria and archaea classified as? |
Prokaryotes |
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What are eukaryotes? |
Large cells, contain a nucleus and other membrane-bound cellular compartments (organelles) |
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What are microscopic organisms as well as plants and animals included as? |
Eukaryotes |
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What is this? |
Phylogenetic tree showing bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes |
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How do you convert Celsius to Kelvin? |
Add 273.15 to the Celsius numeral 0 C = 273.15 K |
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How do you convert Fahrenheit to Kelvin? |
Add 255.372 to the Fahrenheit numeral or 32 F = 273.15 K |