Midterm Exam #1 Practice questions

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Textbook company. I have chosen these questions to highlight and review
important concepts. Some of the explanations of the answers are from me.
How are a nucleoside and a nucleotide similar and how are
they different?

Ans: Both have a nitrogenous base and a pentose; nucleotides

also have a phosphate group, which nucleosides lack.
 Which of the following deoxyoligonucleotides will hybridize
with a DNA containing the sequence (5')AGACTGGTC(3')?
A) (5')CTCATTGAG(3')
B) (5')GACCAGTCT(3')
C) (5')GAGTCAACT(3')
D) (5')TCTGACCAG(3')
E) (5')TCTGGATCT(3')

Ans: B
Which of the following are possible base compositions for single-stranded RNA?

%A %G %C %T %U
1. 5 45 45 0 5
2. 25 25 25 0 25
3. 35 10 30 0 25
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

Ans: 4
which of the following are possible base compositions for double-stranded DNA?

%A %G %C %T %U
1. 5 45 45 5 0
2. 20 20 20 20 20
3. 35 15 35 15 0
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

Ans: 1
The difference between a ribonucleotide and a deoxyribonucleotide is:

A) a deoxyribonucleotide has an —H instead of an —OH at C-2.

B) a deoxyribonucleotide has an —H instead of an —OH at C-3.
C) a ribonucleotide has an extra —OH at C-4.
D) a ribonucleotide has more stable than deoxyribonucleotide.

Ans: A
Osmosis is movement of a:

A) charged solute molecule (ion) across a membrane.

B) gas molecule across a membrane.
C) nonpolar solute molecule across a membrane.
D) polar solute molecule across a membrane.
E) water molecule across a membrane.

Ans: E

The pH of a sample of blood is 7.4, while gastric juice is pH 1.4.

The blood sample has:

A) 0.189 times the [H+] as the gastric juice.

B) 5.29 times lower [H+] than the gastric juice.
C) 6 times lower [H+] than the gastric juice.
D) 6000 times lower [H+] than the gastric juice.
E) one million times lower [H+] than the gastric juice.
Ans: E
Three buffers are made by combining a 1 M solution of acetic acid with a 1 M solution of
sodium acetate in the ratios shown below.

1 M acetic acid 1 M sodium acetate

Buffer 1: 10 mL 90 mL
Buffer 2: 50 mL 50 mL
Buffer 3: 90 mL 10 mL

Which of these statements is true of the resulting buffers?

1. pH of buffer 1 < pH of buffer 2 < pH of buffer 3

2. pH of buffer 1 = pH of buffer 2 = pH of buffer 3
3. pH of buffer 1 > pH of buffer 2 > pH of buffer 3
4. The problem cannot be solved without knowing the value of pKa.
5. None of the above

Ans: 3
Briefly describee “isotonic,” “hypotonic,” and “hypertonic” solutions. (b) Describe what happens when a cell is
placed in each of these types of solutions.

In isotonic environment, concentration of solute in the environment is same as concentration of solutes

found within cells. Therefore, the net movement of water between environment and cells will be
unchanged in isotonic environment.

In hypotonic environment, the concentration of solutes are lower in the environment than inside of
cells. Thefore, water will move from outside environment to inside of cells, potentially rupturing cells
open.

In hypertonic environment, the concentration of solutes are higher in the environment than inside of
cells, so water will move from inside of cells to the outside environment, potentially shrinking cell
volume.

Explain the fact that ethanol (CH3CH2OH) is more soluble in water than is ethane (CH3CH3).

Oxygen in ethanol is more electronegative than hydrogen creating partial positive charge around hydrogen atom
and partial negative charge around oxygen atom. These properties of oxygen and hydrogen allow ethanol to be
polar, and it allow ethanol to engage hydrogen bonding with polar water.
For each of the pairs below, circle the conjugate base.

RCOOH RCOO–

RNH2 RNH3+

H2PO4– H3PO4

H2CO3 HCO3–

Ans: RCOO–, RNH2, H2PO4–, HCO3–

The chirality of an most amino acid results from the fact that its a carbon:

A) has no net charge.

B) is a carboxylic acid.
C) is bonded to four different chemical groups.
D) is in the L absolute configuration in naturally occurring proteins.
E) is symmetric.

Ans: C
Of the 20 standard amino acids, only ___________ is not chiral.
The reason is that its side chain ___________.

A) alanine; is a simple methyl group

B) glycine; is a hydrogen atom
C) glycine; is unbranched
D) lysine; contains only nitrogen
E) proline; forms a covalent bond with the amino group

Ans: B because glycine has 2 hydrogens and it is not

bonded to 4 different groups.
The formation of a peptide bond between two amino acids is
an example of a(n) ______________ reaction.

A) cleavage
B) condensation
C) group transfer
D) isomerization
E) oxidation reduction

Answer: B
The peptide alanylglutamylglycylalanylleucine has:

A) a disulfide bridge.
B) five peptide bonds.
C) four peptide bonds.
D) no free carboxyl group.
E) two free amino groups.

Ans: C
An octapeptide composed of four repeating glycylalanyl units has:

A) one free amino group on an alanyl residue.

B) one free amino group on an alanyl residue and one free carboxyl group on a glycyl residue.
C) one free amino group on a glycyl residue and one free carboxyl group on an alanyl residue.
D) two free amino and two free carboxyl groups.
E) two free carboxyl groups, both on glycyl residues.

Ans: C
A major component of RNA but not of DNA is:

A) adenine.
B) cytosine.
C) guanine.
D) thymine.
E) uracil.

You all seems to know the answer

to this one.
 The composition (mole fraction) of one of the strands of a
double-helical DNA is [A] = 0.3, and [G] = 0.24. Calculate
the following, if possible. If impossible, write “I.”
For the same strand:
[T] = (a) ____
[C] = (b) ____
[T] + [C] = (c) ____
For the other strand:
[A] = (d) ____
[T] = (e) ____
[A] + [T] = (f) ____
[G] = (g) ____
[C] = (h) ____
[G] + [C] = (i) ____

Ans: (a) I; (b) I; (c) 0.46; (d) I; (e) 0.3; (f) I; (g) I; (h) 0.24; (i) I
What is the pH of a solution containing 0.2 M acetic acid (pKa =
4.7) and 0.1 M sodium acetate?

Ans:
pH = pKa + log (CB/Acid)= 4.7 + log (0.1/0.2)

= 4.7 – 0.3 = 4.4

You have just made a solution by combining 50 mL of a 0.1 M
sodium acetate solution with 150 mL of 1 M acetic acid (pKa =
4.7). What is the pH of the resulting solution?

Ans:
pH = pKa + log = 4.7 + log (5/150)

= 4.7 – 1.48 = 3.22

A 1.0 M solution of a compound with 2 ionizable groups (pKa’s = 6.2 and 9.5; 100 mL total) has a pH of 6.8. If a biochemist adds 60 mL of 1.0 M HCl to this
solution, the solution will change to pH:
A) 5.60.
B) 8.90.
C) 9.13.
D) 9.32.
E) The pH cannot be determined from this information.
Ans: There are two ionizable groups. The one with pKa of 9.5 will remain fully protonated in pH6.8, so there is really no significant release of H+ by this group in
this pH of 6.8 or any lower pH caused by addition of HCl. So we only need to concerned about group with pKa of 6.2.

pH = pKa + log (conjugate base / acid)

So initially BEFORE Biochemist added HCl, solution had

6.8 = 6.2 + log (conjugate base / acid)
0.6=log (conjugate base/acid)
0.6=log 4=log (4/1), Now the concentration of this compound was 1M at volume of 100ml.
So you had 1M x 0.1L = 0.1mol of this compound.
And this 0.1mol of compound existed as either conjugate base or acid in 4:1 ratio in pH6.8 (see two lines above), so it had to be 0.08mol of conjugate base and
0.02mol of acid. (0.08mol+0.02mol=0.1mol total)

Now after biochemist added HCl (very strong fully dissociating acid), the ratio of initial conjugate base and acid will change. HCl added was 0.06L x 1mol/L =
0.06mol. HCl fully donate proton to environment, so now you effectively have 0.06mol of H+ that is going to bind to conjugate base to create weak acid.

Before: 0.08mol of conjugate base/ 0.02mol of weak acid. Ratio of 4/1

After: 0.08mol-0.06mol/0.02mol + 0.06mol, so after HCl addition the Ratio is now changed to 0.02mol/0.08mol = ¼.
In essence strong acid decreased initial amount of conjugate base by converting some of conjugate base into weak acid. So weak acid amount also increased.

pKa stays the same, but pH is now changed due to change in ratio of conjugate base/acid.
pH = 6.2 + log (0.02mol/0.08mol) = 6.2 + (-.60) = 5.60 , So the new pH is 5.60
A compound has a pKa of 7.4. Initially you had 100 mL of a 1.0
M solution of this compound at pH 8.0 But later you decide to
add 30 mL of 1.0 M hydrochloric acid. The resulting solution is
pH:
Ans: D
A) 6.5.
B) 6.8.
C) 7.2.
D) 7.4.
E) 7.5.
In proteins, the amino acid histidine (His) plays an
important role. The pKa for the protonation of His to
form HisH+ = 6.0. When pH = 7.0, what is the fraction
of total histidine that will be in the HisH+ form?

Ans: Use the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation to

determine the ratio of [His] to [HisH+].

pH = pKa + log ([His]/ [HisH+])

7.0 = 6.0 + log ([His]/ [HisH+])
1.0 = log ([His]/ [HisH+])
[His]/ [HisH+] = antilog (1) = 10

To determine the fraction of the total in the HisH+

form, [His]total = [His] + [HisH+],

fraction = [HisH+]/[His]total
= [HisH+]/([His] + [HisH+])
substitute from ratio calculated above
= [HisH+]/(10[HisH+] + [HisH+])
= 1/11, or 0.09