Life Sciences Grade 10: The Chemistry of Life

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from the lecture notes.

Organic Compounds

Contain carbon, usually large, and associated with living things.

Inorganic Compounds

Typically do not contain carbon, usually small, and from non-living things.

Organic

A compound containing carbon.

Inorganic

A compound that typically does not contain carbon.

Metabolism

Chemical reactions that occur in an organism.

Water

The most important inorganic compound for maintaining biological systems in our bodies.

Minerals

Elements essential for the normal functioning of cells and metabolic processes.

Macronutrients

Minerals needed in large quantities every day.

Micronutrients (or trace elements)

Minerals needed in smaller quantities.

pH scale

An instrument to indicate the degree of acidity or alkalinity.

Buffer

A solution that can resist pH change upon the addition of an acidic or basic components.

Organic molecules

Are usually polymers consisting of smaller units called monomers and contain atoms of the element carbon covalently linked to atoms of other elements such as hydrogen and oxygen.

Carbohydrates

Form a very large group of naturally occurring organic compounds, produced in plants by photosynthesis.

Monomer

A small building block that is used to make larger molecules.

Polymer

A larger molecule made of monomers.

Anabolic process

When a larger molecule is built up using small molecules.

Catabolic process

When a larger molecule is broken down into smaller molecules.

Monosaccharides

The building blocks (monomers) of carbohydrates.

Polysaccharides

Consist of a several number of monosaccharides joined together and are referred to as complex carbohydrates.

Glycogen

A carbohydrate reserve found in the liver and muscles of animals and is converted to glucose when energy is needed.

Lipid

A collective term used to describe a range of organic compounds such as fats, oils, phospholipids, waxes, and steroids.

Triglycerides

One of the most common types of lipids, comprised of a molecule of glycerol joined to three fatty acids.

Fats

These lipids are solid at 20°C and consist of long chains of carbon that is saturated with hydrogen.

Oils

These lipids are liquid at 20°C and are typically unsaturated.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – “bad” cholesterol

Carries cholesterol from the liver into the blood.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) – “good” cholesterol

Carries cholesterol back to liver to be removed.

Amino acids

The monomers of proteins.

Enzymes

Protein molecules that help chemical reactions in living organisms to take place.

Enzyme

A biological catalyst that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction without being used up in the chemical reaction itself.

Nucleic acids

A very large organic compounds that transfer genetic information and determine the types of proteins produced by the cell.

Nucleotide

The single unit (monomer) of nucleic acids.

Vitamins

Organic compounds essential for normal metabolic reactions and to maintain health.