Chemistry of Life

Physical Change

change in the physical properties

Chemical Change

change between chemical bonds

Energy

ability to do work: required in cells, cannot be created nor destroyed but can change form

Potential Energy

energy that is stored

Kinetic Energy

energy of motion

Solar Energy

form of kinetic in glucose and ATP

Activation Energy

the minimum amount of energy needed to break bonds in a reactant/start a chemical reaction

Endergonic Reaction

a net storage/absorption of energy (ex. dehydration synthesis, photosynthesis)

Exergonic Reaction

a net release of energy (ex. hydrolysis, cellular respiration)

Enzymes

proteins that help kick start chemical reactions

Hydrolysis Reactions

enzymes bind to the reactions, called substrants, stress the bonds so less energy is needed

Synthesis Reactions

enzymes bring reactants, substrants, close together, also stress the bonds decreasing energy needed

Heat Increase

increasing rate of reaction, more products formed in less time

Heat Decrease

decreasing rate of reaction, less product is formed

Catalyst

helps make chemical reactions happen fast: a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction by decreasing the amount of energy needed to break the bond, neither a product or reactant

Enzyme

an organic catalyst derived from a living thing, what cells use to lower energy, almost always protein

Biochemical Pathway

a series of chemical reactions where the product of one reactant is the recent of the next until the pathway is complete

Biochemistry

the structure, composition, and chemical reactions that occur in living things

Monomer

a single unit of an organic compound, can function on its own or be joined by similar monomers to make a polymer

Polymer

many monomers bonded together, large molecules with many different functions, one of the macromolecules

Dehydration Synthesis

when H2O is removed

Hydrolysis

when H2O is added back in

Carbohydrates

main source of energy for living things made up of sugar

Glycosidic Bonds

attach the sugar monomers together

Lipidsall proteins made up of small molecules

make up cell membranes and "fear" water

Amino Acids

all proteins made up of small molecules

Dipeptide

two amino acids bonded together

Denaturation

proteins can lose their structure due to high temperatures or changes in pH levels: loss of biological activity, non-functional (normal protein -> denatured protein)

Renaturation

regains activity, functional (denatured protein -> normal protein)

pH

scale for potential of hydrogen

Nuetralize

lower

Coagulatesstore and transmit genetic info

form/come together

Nucleic Acids

store and transmit genetic info

Polar

having two opposite ends

Polar Covalent Bonds

two opposite charges, electrons are not shared equally, one atom gets a partial negative charge, one atom gets a partial positive charge

Hydrogen Bond

a bond between the hydrogen in a polar molecule and the oxygen or nitrogen in another polar molecule, weaker than covalent and ionic bonds because they break and reform constantly

Electronegativity

the measure of the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of electrons

Non-polar Covalent Bonds

a bond in which electrons are equally shared between two atoms

Solution

a mixture where on substance is evenly dissolved into another, composed of a solvent and one or more solutes

Solvent

the dissolving agent: always in higher concentration compared to the solution, solvent in most biological systems is water, but can also be oil, gasses and other substances

Solute

the substance that is dissolved in the solvent

Dissociation

only takes place when an ionic compound dissolves in water

Hydrophilic

loves water (polar)

Hydrophobic

hates water (non-polar)

Concentration

the quantity of a substance in a given volume, the amount of solute in a given amount of solvent

Hydrogen Ion

H+

Hydroxide Ion

OH-

Hydronium Ion

H30+

Acid

a substance that increases the H+ ion concentration in water

Base

a substance that decreases H+ concentration of a solution

pH Scale

a scale from 1 to 14 used to measure how acidic or basic a solution is