Unit 1 Study Guide: The Chemistry of Life Name: ______

Chapter 2

The Chemical Context of Life

Matter consists of chemical elements in pure form and in combinations called compounds
  1. Fill in the following table.

Element / Compound
Definition
Example #1
Example #2
  1. Relate the concept of emergent properties to elements and compounds.
  1. What are the top four elements in your body?
  1. How many elements have been identified?
  1. How many elements are essential to life?
  1. What are trace elements? Give an example of one.

An element’s properties depend on the structure of its atoms

  1. Fill in the following table

Charge / Mass (Daltons or amu) / Location in the atom
Electron
Proton
Neutron
  1. Answer the following for the element carbon:
  2. Atomic number______
  3. Atomic mass______
  4. Number of protons______
  5. Number of electrons______
  1. What are isotopes (not a baseball team)?
  1. Give 2 examples of stable carbon isotopes.
  1. Give 1 example of an unstable carbon isotope. How is this isotope used in biology?
  1. Read Figures 2.5 and 2.6. Briefly explain how radioactive isotopes are used in these two processes.
  1. Figure 2.5: Radioactive Tracers
  1. Figure 2.6: PET Scans
  1. Define the following terms:
  2. Energy
  1. Potential Energy
  1. Describe the relationship between an electron’s potential energy and the distance it is from the nucleus.
  1. When an electron absorbs energy, they are called “excited.” When an electron loses energy, it “falls back.” Give an example of each of these processes.
  1. What are “valence electrons” and what is their significance?

The formation and function of molecules depend on chemical bonding between atoms

  1. What is electronegativity?
  1. What is the relationship between electronegativity and the polarity of molecules? *Important Concept*
  1. Draw and label Figure 2.12.
  1. Fill in the following table:

Covalent Bond / Ionic Bond
Definition
Example compound
  1. Functionally, what are weak chemical bonds (e.g. ionic bonds, hydrogen bonds, and Van der Waals interactions) able to do that stronger ones (e.g. covalent bonds) cannot?
  1. Describe hydrogen bonding.
  1. Relate the form and function of gecko toes.

Chemical reactions make and break chemical bonds

  1. Explain the importance of molecular shapes in chemical reactions.
  1. Fill in the coefficients for the following chemical reaction (respiration):

__ O2 + __ C6H12O6 __CO2 + __H2O

  1. What is chemical equilibrium?
  1. Write a chemical reaction that is in equilibrium.

Chapter 3

Water and the Fitness of the Environment

The polarity of water molecules results in hydrogen bonding

  1. What is electronegativity and how does it affect interactions between water molecules?

Four emergent properties of water contribute to Earth’s fitness for life

  1. Emergent property #1: ______
  2. Define this emergent property.
  1. Give an example of how it is important in a life process.
  1. Compare and contrast this emergent property with adhesion.
  1. Explain how this emergent property is related to surface tension.
  1. Explain how this emergent property is related to the polarity of water.
  1. Emergent property #2: ______
  2. Explain this emergent property.
  1. Explain the relationship between heat and kinetic energy.
  1. What is a calorie (Calories in food packages are actually kilocalories)?
  1. What is specific heat?
  1. Compare the specific heat of water to that of other substances.
  1. Because of its (high or low) specific heat, it takes an input of a (lot or little) energy to change the temperature of water.
  1. Explain how the specific heat of water is related to its polarity.
  1. What is heat of vaporization?
  1. Explain how the high heat of vaporization of water is related to its polarity.
  1. Explain how evaporative cooling works.
  1. Emergent property #3: ______
  2. Explain why ice floats on water.
  1. Explain how this is important to life.
  1. Explain how this emergent property is related to the polarity of water.
  1. Emergent property #4: ______
  2. Define the following terms:
  3. Solvent –
  1. Solute –
  1. Solution –
  1. What is an aqueous solution?
  1. Chemicals that dissolve in water have what properties?
  1. Define the following terms (and give an example of each)
  2. Hydrophilic –
  1. Hydrophobic -

Dissociation of water molecules leads to acidic and basic conditions that affect living organisms

  1. Dissociation of water
  2. Write down the chemical equation for the dissociation of water into hydrogen and hydroxide ions.
  1. Label the reactants and products.
  1. How often does this occur?
  1. What is the concentration of these ions in pure water (at 25oC)?
  1. How do you think this relates to the pH of pure water?
  1. Define the following terms:
  2. Acid-
  1. Base-
  1. pH scale-
  1. Buffer-
  1. Write the equation (and label the chemicals) for how carbonic acid regulates blood pH.
  1. Why is rainwater naturally acidic?
  1. What causes acid precipitation?
  1. Name two adverse consequences of acid precipitation.

1.

2.

Chapter 4

Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life

Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds

  1. Most organic compounds contain ___ and ___.
  2. Summarize what Stanley Miller was able to demonstrate in 1953.

Carbon atoms can form diverse molecules by bonding to four other atoms

  1. How many covalent bonds can the following elements form?

Unit 1 Study Guide: The Chemistry of Life

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  1. C: ___
  2. H: ___
  3. O: ___
  4. N: ___

Unit 1 Study Guide: The Chemistry of Life

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  1. Draw a structural formula for C6H12O6. Be sure that it conforms to the rules from the previous question.
  1. Hydrocarbons
  2. Define hydrocarbon –
  1. In what types of molecules are they found in organisms?
  1. Name two important properties of hydrocarbons

1.

2.

Functional groups are the parts of molecules involved in chemical reactions

  1. What is a functional group?
  1. Fill in the following table

Functional Group
Structural formula
Compound names
1 example name
Structural formula of example
1 functional property
  1. ATP
  2. Draw this molecule
  1. Explain the importance of this molecule to living things.

Chapter 5

The Structure and Function of Macromolecules

Most macromolecules are polymers, built from monomers

  1. What is the difference between a polymer and a monomer?
  1. Which three classes of organic molecules are polymers?
  2. What is a condensation/dehydration reaction? Give an example of one.
  1. What is hydrolysis reaction? Give an example of one.

Carbohydrates serve as fuel and building material

  1. What are carbohydrates?
  1. What are the monomers of carbohydrates called?
  1. What are the three hexose simple sugars?
  2. What are these simple sugars used for?
  1. Name three disaccharides and the monosaccharides that make them up.
  1. Name four classes of polysaccharides and why they are important.

a.

b.

c.

d.

  1. Show how polysaccharide bonds form (see fig. 5.5). What class of reaction is this and why?

Lipids are a diverse group of hydrophobic molecules

  1. Lipids include ______, ______, and ______.
  2. Are fats polymers? Why or why not?
  1. What are the building blocks of all fats?
  1. Show how ester bonds of fats form (see fig. 5.11). What class of reaction is this and why?
  1. What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats?
  1. Where are phospholipids found? Describe their composition.
  1. Describe a steroid (composition and use).
  1. Draw a steroid. Label the functional group and the group common to all steroids.

Proteins are the molecular tools for most cellular functions

  1. What makes proteins important?

A polypeptide is a polymer of amino acids connected in a specific sequence

  1. How many amino acids are there?
  1. Fill in the following table:

Type of protein / Brief description of location/function
  1. Show how peptide bonds form (see fig. 5.18). What class of reaction is this and why?

A protein’s function depends on its specific conformation

  1. Fill in the following table.

Level of protein structure / Description / Type of chemical bond(s) involved
Primary structure
Secondary structure
Tertiary structure
Quaternary structure
  1. Explain how form affects function in the case of hemoglobin and sickle-cell disease.
  1. The R-groups of amino acids are important in determining the structure and function of proteins.

R-group properties / Elements (element groups) that appear to give them their properties / How this property could affect structure/function of part of protein that the amino acid is in (e.g. hyrodophilic, hydrophobic, e- donor, e- acceptor)
Non-polar
Polar
Electrically charged - Acidic
Electrically charged - Basic
  1. What is denaturing of proteins? How does this affect protein function?
  1. What is X-ray crystallography used for?

Nucleic acids store and transmit hereditary information

  1. What is a gene?
  1. What are the two types of nucleic acids and what do they do?

A DNA strand is a polymer with an information-rich sequence of nucleotides

  1. What is a nucleotide?
  1. Name the purines and sketch them.
  1. Name the pyrimidines and sketch them.

Inheritance is based on precise replication of DNA

  1. What is a double helix and who discovered it?
  1. Draw a short strand of DNA. Include (and label) adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine, phosphate group, deoxyribose, 5’ end, and 3’ end.
  1. Explain how DNA and proteins have been used to support evolution?

Unifying Themes / Give examples of how these themes were demonstrated in this unit.
Science as a Process
Evolution
Energy Transfer
Continuity and Change
Relationship of Structure and Function
Regulation
Interdependence in Nature
Science, Technology, and Society

Unit 1 Study Guide: The Chemistry of Life

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