Bio Chemistry

Trace Elements

Required by an organism in only minute qualities.

Covalent Bonds

Sharing of a pair of electrons by two atoms.

Ionic Bonds

An electron that is stripped from their bonding partners.

Anion

A negative ion.

Cation

A positive ion.

Hydrogen Bonds

Forms when a hydrogen atom covalently bonds to one electronegative atom of another and is also attracted to another electronegative atom.

Polar

One atom is more electronegative and the atoms do not share the electron equally.

Nonpolar

The atoms share the electron equally.

Aqueous Solution

Water is the solvent in a solution.

Hydrophilic

Substances that mix well with water.

Specific Heat

The amount of heat to be absorbed or lost for 1 g of that substance to change its temperature by 1°C.

Hydrophobic

Substances that do not mix well with water.

Buffers

Protects against changes in pH, minimizing changes in hydrogen ion and hydroxide ions in a solution.

Base

A substance that reduces hydrogen ion concentration of a solution.

pH

The measurement for how acidic or basic a substance is.

Monomer

The subunit that serves as a subunit for a polymer.

Polymer

A long molecule consisting of similar or identical monomers linked together by covalent bonds.

Hydrolysis

The reverse of dehydration, where bonds between monomers are broken by the addition of a water molecule.

Glycosidic Linkage

A covalent bond formed between two monosaccharides by a dehydration reaction.

Phospholipid

A lipid made up of glycerol joined to two fatty acids and a phosphate group.

Chitin

A structural polysaccharide found in many fungal cell walls and in the exoskeletons of arthropods.

Condensation Reaction

The process by which monomers join together to produce polymers, with the removal of water.

Chaperonin

A protein complex that assists in the proper folding of other proteins.

Triacylglycerol

A lipid consisting of three fatty acids linked to one glycerol molecule.

Macromolecule

Polysaccharides, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Saccharides

Molecules consisting of sugar molecules bonded together.

Purines

Nitrogenous bases with two organic rings, specifically adenine (A) and guanine (G).

Pyrimidines

Nitrogenous bases that include cytosine, thymine, and uracil.

Denaturation

The alteration of secondary and tertiary structures of proteins while retaining primary structure.

Geometric Isomer

Isomers that have the same covalent bonds but differ in spatial arrangements.

Enantiomer

Isomers that are mirror images of each other.

Functional Groups

Components of organic molecules that are involved in chemical reactions.

Hydroxyl Group

-OH, Alcohol.

Carbonyl Group

C=O, Ketone or Aldehyde.

Carboxyl Group

-COOH, Carboxylic acid or organic acid.

Amino Group

-NH2, Amine.

Sulfhydryl Group

-SH, Thiol.

Phosphate Group

-OPO3-2, Organic Phosphate.

Methyl Group

-CH3, Methylated compound.