AP BIO NOTES MASTER

Quantitative data

Numerical data.

Qualitative data

Data collected by senses, usually converted into quantitative.

Inductive reasoning

Specific to general conclusions.

Deductive reasoning

General to specific conclusions.

Hypothesis

Testable idea about how something works.

Scientific law

Universal scientific fact.

Theory

Summarizes a group of hypotheses.

Null hypothesis

Hypothesis that research aims to disprove; claims there is no correlation between variables.

Alternative hypothesis

Hypotheses that explore different relationships between variables.

Variables

Things that change.

Constants

Things that don’t change.

Independent variable

Factor deliberately changed.

Dependent variable

Factor being measured, changes depending on independent variable.

Controls

Eliminates error in experiments, increases reliability. Positive = exposed to treatment known to produce a certain effect; Negative = no treatment, known to produce no effect.

Mean

Average value.

Median

Middle-most value.

Mode

Most frequent value.

Standard deviation (s)

How data is spread from the mean; high SD = more spread out; low SD = less spread out.

Standard error of the mean (SEM)

Confidence in the mean - how precise is it? Low SE = more confidence.

Bar graph and error bars

Overlapping error bars = difference isn’t significant.

Chi-square

Determines if there is a statistically significant relation between two variables.

Macromolecule

Four types: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids.

Organic compound

Molecules containing carbon.

Protein

Made of CHONS (remember disulfide bond for S and Amino/N terminus for N).

Carbohydrate

Made of CHO, ring structures.

Lipid

Made of CHOP (remember phospholipids), all nonpolar, no specific monomers/polymers.

Nucleic acid

Made of CHONP (remember phosphate group for P and nitrogenous base for N).

Monomer

Single unit of a macromolecule.

Polymer

More than one unit of a macromolecule.

Dehydration synthesis

Removes a water molecule to bond two monomers together.

Hydrolysis

Breaks down polymer by adding a water molecule.

Glycosidic linkage

The covalent bond between monosaccharides.

Monosaccharide

Monomer of carbohydrates.

Disaccharide

Two monosaccharides.

Polysaccharide

Polymer of carbohydrates.

Linear

Chain of monomers.

Branched

When a nonlinear chain of monomers bonds to create a tree-like structure.

Cellulose

Structural carbohydrate found in cell wall, hard to break down because linear chain.

Starch

Storage carbohydrate in plants, easier to break down because it’s slightly branched.

Glycogen

Storage carbohydrate in animals, easy to break down because it’s very branched.

Fatty acid

A long chain of hydrocarbons.

Saturated fatty acid

With no double bond, solid at room temperature.

Unsaturated fatty acid

That has a double bond, non solid at room temperature.

Glycerol

A carbohydrate involved in fatty acids and phospholipids.

Triglyceride

A fat, made of glycerol and three fatty acids.

Phospholipid

Hydrophilic head, hydrophobic fatty acid tails, glycerol backbone. Amphipathic = having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts.

Cell membrane (phospholipid bilayer)

Made of phospholipids, the hydrophobic tails face each other and the heads face outward.

Ester bond

Bond between lipids.

Steroid

Lipid, four rings.

Cholesterol

A lipid in the bilayer that allows for fluidity.

Amino acid

Monomer for protein.

Amino or N terminus

One functional group of an amino acid.

Carboxyl or C terminus

The other functional group of an amino acid where new amino acids are added.

Central carbon

Middle part of an amino acid.

R group / side chain

Variable group, several options, makes the amino acid unique.

Dipeptide

Two amino acids.

Polypeptide

Polymer of proteins.

Peptide bond

The covalent bond between amino acids.

Protein backbone

Chain of amino acids.

Primary structure

Chain of amino acids, peptide bonded.

Secondary structure

Backbone held together with hydrogen bonds, slight bending due to interactions between the carboxyl and amino terminus.

Alpha helix

Spiral of amino acid chain, found in secondary structure.

Beta sheet

Pleated chain, found in secondary structure.

Tertiary structure

3D shape, determined by polarity of R group.

Disulfide bond

Bond between cysteine chains, seen in protein folding.

Hydrophobic interactions

When the R groups are hydrophobic, they fold inside the structure, away from an aqueous solution.

Quaternary structure

Not all have this, only when a protein has more than one chain; large 3D structure as amino acids interact.

Antibody

A type of protein that targets antigens.

Enzyme

Types of proteins that catalyze (or speed up) reactions.

Nucleotide

Monomer for nucleic acids, pairs are held together by hydrogen bonds.

Phosphodiester bond

Bond between nucleotides.

Sugar

The five-carbon sugar (either ribose or deoxyribose).

Phosphate

One part of a nucleotide, is negatively charged which gives DNA a negative charge.

Nitrogenous base

Adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, and uracil.

Deoxyribose

DNA sugar base.

Ribose

RNA sugar base.

DNA

Double-stranded.

RNA

Single-strand.

5’ Phosphate group

end.

3’ Hydroxyl group

end/near sugar.

Antiparallel

DNA runs 5’ to 3’ prime in both directions.

Pyrimidine

One ring, Thymine, Uracil, and Cytosine.

Purine

Double ring, Adenine and Guanine.

Cytosine

Pairs with Guanine, pyrimidine base, has 3 hydrogen bonds and is harder to break.

Guanine

Pairs with Cytosine, pyrimidine base, has 3 hydrogen bonds and is harder to break.

Adenine

Pairs with Thymine/Uracil, purine base, has 2 hydrogen bonds and is easier to break.

Thymine

Pairs with Adenine, purine base, has 2 hydrogen bonds and is easier to break.

Uracil

Pairs with Adenine, purine base, has 2 hydrogen bonds and is easier to break.

ATP

RNA monomer.

Aqueous

Water solvent.

Polarity

When there is an unequal sharing of electrons in a molecule.

Polar (AKA hydrophilic)

When there is an overall charge in a molecule.

Nonpolar (AKA hydrophobic)

When charges in a molecule cancel out and the molecule is left with no overall charge.

Covalent bond

When more than one molecule shares valence electrons.

Hydrogen bond

Weak bond between hydrogens and oxygens of different water molecules.

Intermolecular bond

Bonds between molecules (not within).

Solvent

A solution where things are dissolved in.

Solute

Something that dissolved in a larger liquid.

Solution

When two or more things are mixed together, usually liquid

Universal solvent

Water’s ability to act as a solvent for most polar substances.