Discussion Worksheet - Week 1

Chapter 2 (Water):

Thermodynamics:
a. Write out the equation for Gibbs Free Energy change and define the variables:

b. When ΔG is negative, the reaction is ______________

c. When ΔG is positive, the reaction is _______________

d. How do non-spontaneous reactions occur biologically?

e. When bonds are broken, energy is _____________

f. When bonds are formed, energy is _____________

g. Consider a reaction where reactant A undergoes a change to product B. The

equilibrium constant for this reaction is 25,000 when A and B both start at 1M
concentration and are at 25°C and 1 atm. What is the standard free energy
change? For reference, T = 298K, R = 8.314 J/K*mol

Water Problems:
1. What is the [OH-] in a solution with an [H+] of 2.3 x 10​-4​?
 2. Why is water not a perfect tetrahedron?

3. Starting with equilibrium constant equation, show that [H​+​] = [OH​-​] = 10​-7 ​M

4. True/False: when nonpolar molecules that are evenly dispersed throughout a beaker of
water coalesce to form separate polar and nonpolar phases, the entropy of the solution
decreases.

Acid-Base Problems:
1. True/False: pH is always positive

2. What is the pH of a 0.1 M solution of Sodium Acetate

3. Calculate the number of moles of acetic acid (pKa = 4.76) and sodium acetate
necessary to prepare 1L of 0.2M buffer solution at pH 5.

4. What is the pH of a solution that has [H​+​] = 6.5 x 10​-10​?

5. In a hospital laboratory, a 20.0 mL sample of gastric juice, obtained hours after a meal,
was titrated with 0.1 M NaOH to neutrality, 10.4 mL of NaOH was required. The patient’s
stomach contained no ingested food or drink, so there were no buffers present. What
was the pH of the gastric juice?
6. The amino acid glycine is often used as the main ingredient of a buffer in biochemical
experiments. The amino group (pK​a​ = 9.6) can exist in the protonated form or as the free
base:
a. In what pH range can glycine be used as an effective buffer due to its amino
group?
b. In a 0.1 M solution of glycine at pH = 9.0, what fraction of glycine has its amino
group in the protonated form?
c. How much 5M KOH must be added to 1.0 L of 0.1 M glycine at pH = 9.0 to bring
its pH to exactly to 10.0?
d. When 99% of the glycine is in its protonated form, what is the numerical relation
between the pH of the solution and the pK​a​ of the amino group?
Chapter 3 (Amino acids, Peptides, and Proteins):
1. Which amino acids are good buffers at physiological pH? Why?

2. Fill in the table with the missing information

Amino Acid 3 letter 1 letter Properties (1 word)

Ala

Glycine

Pro

Phenylalanine

Val

Ile I

Arginine

Trp

Thr

Glutamine

Asp

Cysteine

Leucine

His
3. Which amino acids absorb UV light at 270-280 nm? What common property of these
amino acids is responsible for this behavior.

4. You have a peptide with an amino acid sequence of KYRVEP. What is the charge of the
protein at a pH of 2? pH of 8? pH of 11? Can you determine the isoelectric point?
5. Find the isoelectric point for the three amino acids based on the titration curve below: