Macromolecules

Biological Molecules

-Organic- is any molecule that contains a carbon atom

-Inorganic- molecules without carbon and carbon dioxide

Functional Groups

Attached to the carbon atom in organic molecules are functional groups

The functional groups determine the characteristics of the molecule

Biological molecules are macromolecules

Macromolecules means large molecules

Large molecules only exist because something living made them. They do not happen on their own. Macromolecules are put together and built through chemical processes by living organisms.

There are four types of macromolecules

1) Carbohydrates

2) Lipids

3) Proteins

4) Nucleotides/nucleic acid

Biological Molecules

Watch this video on Biological Molecules. Take notes and be prepared to answer questions about what a biological molecules is and where they come from.

One piece of an organic molecule is called a monomer

-Monomer- one subunit of a biological molecule

-Polymer- a chain of monomers

Monomers are attached to make a polymer through a process called dehydration synthesis

When two monomers are joined together they attach at the functional group Hydroxyl which is an OH. When they attach at this point they share an oxygen but they lose H2O and a water molecule falls away. This is why it is called dehydration synthesis...because it is losing a water.

-Polymers are broken apart into monomers through a process called hydrolysis

In order to break two monomers, water has to be added so the monomers can go back to having their own OH Hydroxyl functional group. Because the water is cutting the monomers apart it is called hydrolysis. Hydro means water and lysis means to cut.

Monomers and Polymers

Watch this video on monomers and polymers. Take notes and be prepared to answer questions about what is a monomer and polymer. Also be able to explain how monomers join to form polymers and how polymers get cut into monomers.

Carbohydrates

The structure of a Carbohydrate is C(H2O). It is a carbon (Carbo) and a water molecule (Hydrate)

Carbohydrates are sugars!

-A complex carbohydrate is a lot of sugars strung together like starch

Sugars have their own name...they are called Saccharides

-A monosaccharide is a single sugar molecule or a monomer of carbohydrate

-A Disaccharide is 2 sugars stuck together. This is a polymer of carbohydrate

-And a Polysaccharide is more than two sugars stuck together in a chain. These are also polymers

Some examples

-Monosaccharides: Glucose, Fructose, Galactose, Ribose, Deoxyribose

-Disaccharides: Sucrose (Glucose+Fructose) Lactose (Glucose+Galactose) Maltose (Glucose+Glucose)

-Polysaccharides: Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose, Chitin

Watch this video to observe the formation of a disaccharide. What happens when water encounters a glycosidic bond?

Bozeman Science: Carbohydrates

Watch this video. Take notes. Make sure that you fully understand what a carbohydrate is.

Lipids

Lipids are oils, fats, waxes, and steroid hormones

-lipids do not have a monomer. They are almost completely made up of hydrogen and carbon

-A fat is formed by attaching three fatty acid subunits to a glycerol

-This is why they are called a triglyceride

Fats are saturated and oils are unsaturated.

-Saturated means it has all the hydrogens it can fit which causes the fat molecules to fit tightly together. This is why fats are solid at room temperature.

-Unsaturated means that the lipid is missing some hydrogens which causes the fatty acid chains to bend. Because of the bending the molecules cannot fit tightly together. This is why unsaturated fatty acids are oils at room temperature.

Bozeman Science: Lipids

Watch this video on Lipids. Take notes. Make sure you fully understand what a Lipid is.

-Lipids are hydrophobic meaning they do not dissolve in water.

-Because lipids are hydrophobic many organisms use them as water proofing

-A phospholipid is a lipid that has both a hydrophobic side and a hydrophilic side

-We use phospholipids to make soap

-The hydrophobic side sticks to the oils on our skin and the hydrophilic side sticks to the water washing off the oil.

-Our cells have a membrane that is made of two layers of phospholids. It is called a phospholipid bilayer

-A phospholipid bilayer has many properties that assist with cell homeostasis

-Another important lipid is hormones.

-Hormones are chemical messengers the body uses to talk to other cells

-Steroids are a type of hormone

Proteins

-A monomer of protein (one piece of a protein) is called an amino acid

-The polymer of a protein (Two or more amino acids joined together) is simply called a protein

-Amino acids bond together with what is called a peptide bond

-Because of this sometimes a chain of amino acids is called a polypeptide

(A short chain is called a peptide, a chain of 50 or more is called a polypeptide)

-A chain of amino acids can also bond to the top of bottom of another chain forming layers

-This type of bond is called a disulfide bond

-Proteins can have up to four levels of structure

-Primary Structure is one chain of protein

-Secondary Structure is a chain that is folded into a helix

-Tertiary Structure is when the protein chain folds

-Quaternary Structure when multiple tertiary structures bond to each other

-The shape of a protein is what determines its purpose or function

-If a protein's shape is changed it can no longer function properly

-Changing a protein's shape is known as denaturing

Protein functions:

-Structural

-Keritin

-Proteins are used for structures like finger nails, hair, horns, or silk

-Movement

-Actin and myosin

-Found in muscles for contraction

-Defense

-Anti-venoms and anibodies are proteins that neutralize toxins

-Signaling

-Insulin

-Secreted by the pancreas to promote glucose uptake

-Storage

-Albumin

-In egg whites to store nutrition for the embryo

-Catalyzing reactions

-All enzymes

Bozeman Science: Proteins

Psychedelic Milk Demonstration

Milk contains salts and sugars dissolved in water as well as small globs of fat and proteins that are suspended in the water. These fat globs are hydrophobic, which means they cannot dissolve in the water. The detergent added to the pan has molecules with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic ends. This means that it is able to lower the surface tension of the water, which is approximately 87% of milk. The hydrophobic ends of the detergent molecules try to surround the fat globules in the milk, causing movement of the milk at the molecular level this re-orientation of the different phases of the milk cause the swirling effect we notice when the colors in the milk begin to mix. The movement stops when the re-organization has place most particles in a lowest energy arrangement.

Amino Acids are composed of an amino group, a hydrogen group, a carboxylic acid group, and a variable R group. The variable R is what makes all the amino acids different.