Chapter Reading 5.1 Carbon and Organic Molecules

Vocabulary flashcards covering monomers, polymers, dehydration reactions, hydrolysis, and chemical changes based on Chapter Reading 5.1.

Monomers

Small organic compounds or smaller molecular units that join together to make polymers.

Polymers

Large organic compounds made of many monomers linked together by cells into long chains, which can be straight, branched, or folded in on themselves.

Dehydration reaction

A chemical reaction where a water molecule is released after a monomer is added to a chain.

Building Polymers

The process that happens when water is removed from monomers to join them into chains.

Breaking Polymers

The process that happens when cells break bonds between monomers by adding water.

Chemical reaction

A process that causes a chemical change, transforming reactants at the start into products at the end.

Reactants

The substances present at the start of a chemical change in a chemical reaction.

Products

The substances formed at the end of a chemical change in a chemical reaction.

Dehydration synthesis

The process of joining monomers to make polymers by removing water, following the reaction: $\text{monomer} + \text{monomer} \rightarrow \text{polymer} + \text{water}$.

Hydrolysis

The process of breaking apart polymers into monomers by adding water (associated with digestion), following the reaction: $\text{polymer} + \text{water} \rightarrow \text{monomer} + \text{monomer}$.