AP Biology Final Exam Study Guide Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering key concepts from Units 1 through 8 of the AP Biology curriculum based on the provided final exam study guide.

Control Group

The group in a controlled experiment that does not receive the experimental treatment and serves as a baseline for comparison to evaluate the importance of the results.

Experimental Group

The group in a controlled experiment that receives the variable or treatment being tested.

Hydroxyl Group

A functional group represented by the formula $-OH$.

Carbonyl Group

A functional group consisting of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom, represented as $=O$.

Amino Group

A functional group consisting of a nitrogen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms, represented as $-NH_2$.

Sulfhydryl Group

A functional group consisting of a sulfur atom bonded to a hydrogen atom, represented as $-SH$.

pH Scale Difference ($pH \, 6$ to $pH \, 4$)

A change from $pH \, 6$ to $pH \, 4$ represents a $100$-fold increase in $\text{[H}^+\text{]}$ concentration ($10 \times 10$).

Blood Buffer System

A system involving carbonic acid ($H_2CO_3$) and bicarbonate ion ($HCO_3^-$) that helps maintain pH stability in human blood.

Ocean Acidification

The process by which increasing atmospheric $CO_2$ concentrations dissolve into seawater, lowering its pH and affecting marine organisms.

Dehydration Reaction

A chemical reaction that builds polymers by removing a water molecule to join monomers together.

Hydrolysis Reaction

A chemical reaction that breaks down polymers into monomers by the addition of a water molecule.

Denaturation

The process in which a protein loses its native shape and function due to the disruption of weak chemical bonds and interactions.

Primary Structure

The first level of protein structure consisting of the unique sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.

Enzyme Active Site

The specific region of an enzyme where the substrate binds and the chemical reaction occurs.

Induced Fit Model

The model describing how the binding of a substrate causes a slight change in the shape of the enzyme's active site to enhance the catalysis.

Lysosome

A membrane-bound organelle containing digestive enzymes used to break down macromolecules and old cell parts.

Fluid Mosaic Model

The description of the plasma membrane as a fluid structure with various proteins embedded in or attached to a double layer of phospholipids.

Cholesterol

A molecule found in the plasma membranes of animal cells that helps regulate membrane fluidity across different temperatures.

Active Transport

The movement of a substance across a cell membrane against its concentration gradient, mediated by specific transport proteins and requiring an expenditure of energy (ATP).

Osmosis

The diffusion of free water across a selectively permeable membrane.

Chemiosmosis

The process in which energy stored in the form of a hydrogen ion gradient across a membrane is used to drive cellular work, such as the synthesis of ATP.

Final Electron Acceptor

In the mitochondrial electron transport chain, this role is filled by Oxygen ($O_2$).

Calvin Cycle

The second stage of photosynthesis, also known as the dark reactions, which uses ATP and NADPH to convert $CO_2$ to sugar.

Haploid ($n$)

A cell containing only one set of chromosomes, found in gametes.

Diploid ($2n$)

A cell containing two sets of chromosomes, one set inherited from each parent.

Non-disjunction

An error in meiosis or mitosis in which members of a pair of homologous chromosomes or sister chromatids fail to separate properly from each other.

Okazaki Fragments

Short segments of DNA synthesized discontinuously on the lagging strand during DNA replication.

Helicase

An enzyme that untwists the double helix of DNA at the replication forks, separating the two strands.

Inducible Operon

An operon that is usually off but can be stimulated (induced) when a specific small molecule interacts with a regulatory protein (e.g., the lac operon).

Homologous Structures

Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.

Adaptive Radiation

A period of evolutionary change in which groups of organisms form many new species whose adaptations allow them to fill different ecological roles, exemplified by Galapagos finches.

Ethylene

A gaseous plant hormone that promotes the ripening of fruit.

Negative Feedback

A form of regulation in which accumulation of an end product of a process slows the process.

Positive Feedback

A form of regulation in which an end product speeds up its own production, such as in fruit ripening or labor.