Study Guide Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Chapter 1: Biology-Exploring Life

• Hypothesis Based Science: elements that help scientific investigations; illustrates the “scientific
method”
• Scientific Method: a process of inquiry that involves observations, questions, hypotheses,
predictions, and tests of predictions
• Deductive Reasoning: takes the form of predictions of experimental results or
observations; uses “If …then” logic
• Testable Hypothesis: there must be some way to check its validity
• Falsifiable Hypothesis: there must be some observation or experiment that could show
that it is not true
• Testing supports a hypothesis not by proving that it is correct, but by eliminating it
through falsification. No amount of experimental testing can prove a hypothesis beyond a
shadow of doubt, because it is impossible to exhaust all alternative hypotheses. A
hypothesis gains credibility by surviving various attempts to falsify it.
• Controlled Experiment: one that is designed to compare an experimental group with a control
group

Chapter 2: The Chemical Basis of Life

• The four most abundant elements in living matter
• Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen
• Important Trace Elements
• iron for hemoglobin
• calcium for bones and muscle contraction
• sodium or potassium for nerve cell function
• iodine to prevent goiter in thyroid, phosphorus for ATP/DNA/cell
• Compounds: a substance containing two or more elements in a fixed ratio
• much more common than pure elements
• many consists of only two elements
• most compounds in living organisms contain at least three of four different elements,
mainly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen
• different arrangements of the atoms of these elements determine unique properties for
each compound
• Atomic Structure
• Atom: named from Greek word meaning “indivisible”; smallest unit of matter that still
retains the properties of an element
• Proton: a subatomic particle with a single positive electrical charge (+); defines an
element
• Electron: a subatomic particle with a single negative electrical charge (-)
• Neutron: a subatomic particle that is electrically neutral (has no electrical charge)
• Nucleus: atom’s central core; consists of protons and neutrons
• Atomic Number: number or protons; number of electrons
• Mass Number: the sum of the protons and neutrons in the nucleus
• Atomic Mass (or weight): approximately equal to its mass number
• Isotopes: have the same numbers of protons and electrons and behave identically in
chemical reactions but have different numbers or neutrons
• Radioactive Isotope: the nucleus decays spontaneously, giving off particles and energy
 • pose serious risks to living organisms but have many uses in biological research
• Useful as tracers for monitoring the fate of atoms in living organisms
• Biologists often use radioactive tracers to follow molecules as they undergo chemical
changes in an organism.
• Radioactive tracers are also used in medicine.
• Radioactive tracers are often used for diagnosis in combination with sophisticated
imaging instruments.
• Uncontrolled exposure of radioactive isotopes can harm living organisms by damaging
molecules, especially DNA.
• The particles and energy thrown off by radioactive atoms can break chemical bonds and
also cause abnormal bonds to form.
• Natural sources of radiation can also pose a threat.
• Electron Arrangement and Chemical Properties of an Atom
• Electrons determine how an atom behaves when it encounters other atoms.
• Electrons vary in the amount of energy they possess.
• Electron Shells: an energy level representing the distance of an electron from the nucleus
of an atom
• The number of electrons in the outermost shell determines the chemical properties of an
atom.
• Atoms whose outer shells are not full tend to interact with other atoms.
• When two atoms with incomplete outer shells react, each atom either shares, donates, or
receives outer electrons, so that both partners end up with completed outer shells.
• Chemical Bonds: an attraction between two atoms resulting from a sharing of the outer-
shell electrons or the presence of opposite charges on the atoms; the bonded atoms gain
complete outer electron shells.
• Ionic Bonds: attractions between ions of opposite charge
• Ions: an atom or molecule with an electrical charge resulting from a gain or loss of one or
more electrons
• Salt: a synonym for an ionic compound; often exists as crystals in nature
• The ratio of ions differs with the kind of salt.
• Covalent Bonds: two atoms share one or more pairs of outer shell electrons
• Molecule: formed between two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds
• Double Bond: form when atoms share two pairs of electrons
• The number of covalent bonds an atom can form is equal to the number of additional
electrons needed to fill its outer shell.
• Valence (or Bonding Capacity): the number of covalent bonds an atom can form
• Hydrogen Bonds: a type of weak chemical bond formed when the partially positive hydrogen
atom participating in a polar covalent bond in one molecule is attracted to the partially negative
atom participating in a polar covalent bond in another molecule
• Polar vs Nonpolar
• Electronegativity: an atom’s attraction for its electrons
• The more electronegative an atom, the more strongly it pulls shared electrons toward its
nucleus.
• Nonpolar Covalent Bonds: an attraction between atoms that share one or more pairs of
electrons equally because the atoms have similar electronegativity.
• Polar Covalent Bonds: an attraction between atoms that share electrons unequally
because the atoms differ in electronegativity; the shared electrons are pulled closer to the
 more electronegative atom, making it partially negative and the other atom partially
positive
• Polar Molecule: a molecule containing polar covalent bonds
• Properties of Water
• Cohesion: tendency of molecules to stick together
• Much stronger for water
• Surface Tension: a measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of
a liquid
• Hydrogen bonds give water unusually high surface tension, making it behave as
though it were coated with an invisible film.
• Adhesion
• Due to hydrogen bonding, water sticks to other substances.
• Water clings to living things.
• Moderation of Temperature
• Heat: amount of energy associated with the movement of atoms and molecules in
a body of matter
• Temperature: measures the intensity of heat; the average speed of molecules
rather than the total amount of heat energy in a body of matter
• When water is heated, the energy first disrupts hydrogen bonds and then makes
water molecules move faster. Because heat is absorbed as the bonds break, water
absorbs and stores a large amount of heat while warming up only a few degrees.
• When water is cooled, more hydrogen bonds form. Heat energy is released when
the bonds form, slowing the cooling process.
• Water is resistant to temperature change.
• Hydrogen bonds decrease water’s tendency to evaporate or vaporize. Water must
absorb an unusually large amount of heat in order to vaporize because its
hydrogen bonds tend to hold the molecules in place, giving water a high boiling
point.
• Water moderates temperatures by evaporative cooling. When a substance
evaporates, the surface of the liquid remaining behind cools down as the
molecules with the greatest energy leave.
• Density
• Water is less dense as a solid than as a liquid.
• As water freezes, each molecule forms stable hydrogen bonds with four
neighbors, holding tem at “arm’s length” and creating a three-dimensional
crystal. The ice crystal has fewer molecules than an equal volume of liquid water.
• Solvent Properties
• Solution: a liquid consisting of a uniform mixture of two or more substances
• Solvent: the dissolving agent
• Solute: a substance that is dissolved
• Aqueous Solution: a solution in which water is the solvent
• Water’s versatility as a solvent results from the polarity of its molecules.
• A compound doesn’t need to be ionic to dissolve in water.
• pH Scale, Acids, Bases, Buffers
• Acid: a compound that donates hydrogen ions to solutions; has a higher concentration of
H+ than OH-
• Base: a compound that accepts hydrogen ions and removes them from solution
 • pH scale: used to describe how acidic or basic a solution is; scale ranges from 0 (most
acidic) to 14 (most basic)
• pH stands for potential of hydrogen
• pH unit represents a tenfold change in the concentration of H+ in a solution
• pure water and aqueous solutions that are neither acidic nor basic are said to be neutral;
they have a pH of 7.
• Buffers: substances that resist changes in pH by accepting H+ when it is in excess and
donating H+ when it is depleted
• Chemical Reaction: a process leading to changes in the composition of mater
• Reactant: a starting material in a chemical reaction
• Product: an ending material in a chemical reaction

Chapter 3: The Molecules of Cells

• Dehydration Reaction: a reaction that removes a molecule of water
• Unlinked monomers have both hydroxyl groups and hydrogen atoms. For each monomer
added to a chain, a water molecule is removed.
• Two monomers contribute to the H2O molecule, one monomer losing a hydroxyl group
and the other monomer losing a hydrogen atom.
• The same regardless of the type of polymer the cell is producing.
• Hydrolysis: to break with water and cells break bonds between monomers by adding water to tem
• The reverse of a dehydration reaction.
• A hydrogen joins to one monomer, and a hydroxyl group joins to the adjacent monomer.
• Carbohydrates: member of the class of biological molecules consisting of simple single-monomer
sugars, two-monomer sugars, and other multi-unit sugars
• Monosaccharides: single-unit sugars, monomers
• Disaccharide: constructed by a cell from two monosaccharides through a dehydration
reaction
• Polysaccharides: polymers of monosaccharides linked together by dehydration reactions
• Starch: a storage polysaccharide found in the roots of plants and certain other
cells; a polymer of glucose
• Glycogen: a complex, extensively branched polysaccharide of many glucose
monomers; serves as an energy-storage molecule in liver and muscle cells
• Cellulose: a large polysaccharide composed of many glucose monomers linked
into cable-like fibrils that provide structural support in plant cell walls
• Sweetness
• We perceive sweetness when molecules of a substance attach to “sweet: taste
receptors on our tongue.
• Many different kinds of molecules can bind to our “sweet” taste receptors.
• The chemical structure of a compound determines its shape, which in turn
determines how well it fits into a taste receptor.
• Compounds that bind more tightly to “sweet” taste receptors send stronger
“sweet” messages to the brain.
• Because natural sugars vary in their structure, they also vary in their shape and
our perception of their sweetness.
• Lipids: diverse compounds that consist mainly of carbon and hydrogen atoms linked by nonpolar
covalent bonds
• Hydrophobic: water fearing
• Fats: a large lipid made from two kinds of smaller molecules: glycerol and fatty acids
 • Glycerol: an alcohol with three carbons, each bearing a hydroxyl group
• Fatty Acid: consists of a carboxyl group and a hydrocarbon chain with about 15
carbon atoms
• The carbons in the chain are linked to each other and to hydrogen atoms by
nonpolar covalent bonds, making the hydrocarbon chain hydrophobic.
• Triglyceride: a fat which consists of a molecule of glycerol linked to three
molecules of fatty acid
• Unsaturated: pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains lack the
maximum number of hydrogen atoms and therefore have one or more double
covalent bonds; unsaturated fats and fatty acids do not solidify at room
temperature
• Saturated: pertaining to fats and fatty acids whose hydrocarbon chains contain
the maximum number of hydrogens and therefore have no double covalent
bonds; saturated fats and fatty acids solidify at room temperature
• Phospholipids: a molecule that is a constituent of the inner bilayer of biological
membranes having a polar, hydrophilic head and a nonpolar, hydrophobic tail
• A major component of cell membranes
• Structurally similar to fats but contain the element phosphorus and have only two
fatty acids instead of three
• Waxes: a type of lipid molecule consisting of one fatty acid linked to an alcohol
• Functions as a waterproof coating on many biological surfaces, such as apples
and other fruits
• Steroids: a type of lipid whose carbon skeleton is in the form of four fused rings: three 6-
sided rings and one 5-sided ring
• Cholesterol: a common substance in animal cell membranes; animal cells use it
as a starting material for making other steroids
• Anabolic Steroids: a synthetic variant of the male hormone testosterone that
mimics some of its effects
• Used to treat general anemia and diseases that destroy body muscle
• Overdosing may cause violent mood swings and deep depression
• Can alter cholesterol levels and lead to high blood pressure, increasing
the risk of cardiovascular problems
• Often makes the body reduce its output of natural male sex hormones,
which can cause shrunken testicles, reduced sex drive, infertility, and
breast enlargement in men
• Use in women has been linked to menstrual cycle disruption and
development of masculine characteristics.
• In teens, bones may stop growing, stunting growth.
• Proteins: a polymer constructed from amino acid monomers
• Protein diversity is based on differing arrangements of a common set of just 20
amino acids.
• Amino Acids: an organic molecule containing a carboxyl group and an
amino group; serves as the monomer of proteins
• Probably the most important role for proteins is as enzymes.
• Enzymes: chemical catalysts that speed and regulate virtually all
chemical reactions in cells
• Basic Structure:
 • Cells join amino acids together in a dehydration reaction that links the
carbon groups of one amino acid to the amino group of the next amino
acid as a water molecule is removed.
• Peptide Bond: the covalent linkage between two amino units in a
polypeptide; formed by a dehydration reaction
• Polypeptide: a chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds
• Each polypeptide has a unique sequence of amino acids.
• Denaturation: a process in which a protein unravels, losing its specific
conformation and hence function
• Can be caused by changes in pH, salt concentration, or high temperature
• Refers to the separation of the two strands of the DNA double helix,
cause by similar factors
• Four Levels of Protein Structure
• Primary Structure: the first level of protein structure; the specific
sequence of amino acids making up a polypeptide chain
• Secondary Structure: the second level of protein structure; the regular
patterns of coils or folds of a polypeptide chain
• Tertiary Structure: the third level of protein structure: the overall three-
dimensional shape of a polypeptide in a protein
• Quaternary Structure: the fourth level of protein structure; the shape
resulting from the association of two or more polypeptide subunits
• Nucleic Acids: a polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers
• Serves as a blueprint for proteins and through the actions of proteins for all cellular
structures and activities
• The two types of nucleic acids are DNA and RNA
• Ribonucleic Acid (RNA): a type of nucleic acid consisting of nucleotide
monomers with a ribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine
(C), Guanine (G), and uracil (U)
• Usually single-stranded
• Functions in protein synthesis and as the genome of some viruses
• Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA): the genetic material that organisms inherit from
their parents
• Double stranded helical macromolecule consisting of nucleotide
monomers with deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine
(A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T)
• Genes: a discrete unit of hereditary information consisting of a specific
nucleotide sequence in DNA (or RNA, in some viruses)
• Nucleotide: an organic monomer consisting of a five carbon sugar covalently bonded to
nitrogenous base and a phosphate group
• Building blocks of nucleic acid
• Nitrogenous Base: an organic molecule that is a base containing the element nitrogen