Biology

Topic: Carbon Compounds

October 9, 2020

o Living organisms are made of molecules that consist of carbon and other elements
o Carbon compound
o Molecules that are made up of carbon
 Long chain
 Carbon ring
 Organic chemistry is the field of science that studies the organic/carbon
compounds
o Lipids
o Are generally not soluble in water
o Are mostly made from carbon and hydrogen atoms
o They are hydrophobic
o Lipids categories:
o Fats
 Example a bear in hibernation. They store all the fat in order to survive
the winter
o Oil
o Waxes
 Example honeybees use the wax in order to make their hives. They use it
for structure.
o Steroids
o Functions
o Lipids energy storage is for long term
 Ex. Hibernation for animals
o Waterproofing
 Leaves of some plants have a shinier side and it is like this because it has
wax which works in order to make sure they don’t lose so much water in
transpiration.
o Membranes in cells
 They are composed of lipids
 Phospholipids the major component of the cell membrane.
o Hormones
 This is the group of steroids
o Unsaturated fats
o Fats with double bond in the carbon chain.
o At room temperature it will be a liquid
 Ex. oil
o Good fat for us to consume
o Saturated fat
o Fats with single bond in the carbon chain
 o At room temperature will be solid
 Ex. butter
o Bad fat for us to consume

o Proteins
o Proteins are macromolecules that contain nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen
o Proteins are polymers assembled from individual monomers known as amino
acids
o Proteins have a variety of functions:
 Serve as structure
 Example: The collagen in skin; keratin in hair, nails, horns
 Movement
 Example: Actin and myosin in muscle
 Defense
 Example: Antibodies in bloodstream
 Storage
 Example: Albumin in egg whites
 Signaling
 Example: Growth hormone in bloodstream
 Catalyzing reactions
 Example: Enzymes (Ex.: amylase digests carbohydrates; ATP
synthase makes ATP)
o Nucleic Acid
o Nucleic Acids are macromolecules containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen,
carbon, and phosphorus
o They are polymers assembled from individual monomers known as nucleotides.
o Nucleic acid functions:
 Store and transmit hereditary, or genetic information
o There are two kinds of nucleic acids:
 ribonucleic acid (RNA)
 single strand
 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
 double strand
o chemical reactions and enzymes
o a chemical reaction is a process that changes one set of chemicals into another
pair of chemicals
o energy is released in exothermic occur spontaneously
o absorb energy in endothermic will not occur without a source of energy
o energy is releases or absorbed whenever chemical bonds form are broken
o every organism must have a source of energy to carry out chemical reactions
o Enzymes
o They are a protein
o They are biological catalysts
o They are your bodies workers