Chapter 02

Lecture Outline
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 Chapter 2

Chemical Basis of Life

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2.1 Introduction

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A. Chemistry deals with the composition of matter and how
it changes.
B. A knowledge of chemistry is necessary for the
understanding of physiology because of the importance of
chemicals in body processes.

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2.2 Structure of Matter

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A. Elements and Atoms
1. Matter is anything that has weight (mass) and
takes up space.
2. All matter is composed of elements.
3. Living organisms require about 20 elements, of
which oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen
are most abundant.
4. Elements are composed of atoms; atoms of
different elements vary in size, weight, and
interaction with other atoms.
5. Attractions between two or more atoms are
called chemical bonds.

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 Table 2.1 7
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B. Atomic Structure
1. An atom consists of a nucleus containing
protons and neutrons, with electrons in orbit
around the nucleus in shells.
2. Protons, with a positive charge, are about equal
in size to neutrons, which have no charge.
3. Electrons are much smaller and bear a negative
charge.
4. An electrically neutral atom has equal numbers
of protons and electrons.

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5. The number of protons denotes the atomic
number of an element; the number of protons
plus the number of neutrons approximates the
atomic weight.
6. Atoms with the same atomic number, but
different weights are isotopes of an element.
a. Unstable isotopes are radioactive
b. Common forms of radiation given off
1) Alpha particles
2) Beta particles
3) Gamma radiation
c. Half-life –the time required for an isotope to
lose half of its radioactivity.
9
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 Fig 2.1 10
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C. Bonding of Atoms
1. Atoms form bonds by gaining, losing, or sharing
electrons; determines the chemical activity
2. Electrons are found in shells around the nucleus.
a. The first energy shell holds a maximum of
two electrons.
b. The other energy shells each hold a maximum
of eight electrons when on the outside.
c. Elements that have their outermost shells
filled, are stable structures that are chemically
inert.

11
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 Fig 2.2 12
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 Bonding of atoms, cont
3. Atoms with incompletely filled outer shells tend to
be reactive in order to form stable outer shells of 8
electrons.
4. When atoms gain or lose electrons, they become
ions with a charge. Whether they gain or lose will
depend on how many electrons they have in the
outer shell to start with.
5. Oppositely-charged ions attract each other and
form an ionic bond.
a. Form crystal arrays not molecules
b. Formula gives the ratio of ions, not the actual
numbers
13
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 Fig 2.4 14
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 Bonding, cont.
6. Covalent bonds are formed when atoms share
electrons to become stable with filled outer
shells.
a. One pair of electrons shared between two
atoms forms a single covalent bond.
b. Two pairs of electrons shared between
atoms form a double covalent bond.
c. Three pairs of electrons shared between two
atoms forms a triple covalent bond.

15
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 Fig 2.5 16
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 Bonding, cont.
7. A polar molecule has a covalent bond in which
the electrons are not shared equally.
8. A hydrogen bond forms from a slightly positive
H end of a polar molecule being attracted to
the negative N or O end of another polar
molecule.

17
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 Fig 2.6 18
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D. Molecules and Compounds
1. A molecule is formed when two or more atoms
combine.
2. If atoms of the same element combine, a
molecule of that element is formed (O2 is the
oxygen molecule)
3. If atoms of different elements combine, the
molecule can also be called a compound.
a. Compounds always have a definite kind and
number of atoms.

19
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 Fig 2.7 20
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 Table 2.3 21
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E. Formulas
1. A molecular formula represents the numbers
and types of atoms in a molecule.
a. Ex: Glucose = C6H12O6 , water = H2O
2. Various representations, called structural
formulas, can be used to illustrate how atoms
are joined and arranged in molecules.

22
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 Fig 2.8 23
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 Fig 2.9 24
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F. Chemical Reactions
1. A chemical reaction occurs as bonds are formed
or broken between atoms, ions, or molecules.
2. Those changed by the reaction are the
reactants; those formed are the products.
3. Two or more atoms or molecules can be joined
during synthesis reactions.
a. A + B  AB
4. Larger molecules can be broken into smaller
ones during decomposition reactions.
a. AB  A + B

25
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 Chemical reactions, cont.
5. Exchange reactions occur as parts of molecules
trade places.
a. AB + CD  AD + CB
6. Reversible reactions are symbolized by using two
arrows.
a. AB + CD  AD + CB
7. Catalysts influence the speed of chemical
reactions without being used up in the process.

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G. Acids and Bases
1. Substances that release ions in water are
called electrolytes.
2. Electrolytes that release hydrogen ions in
water are called acids.
3. Electrolytes that release ions that combine
with hydrogen ions in water are called bases.
4. The concentrations of H+ and OH- in the body
are very important to physiology.
5. pH represents the concentration of hydrogen
ions [H+] in solution.

27
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6. pH scale ranges from 0 to 14
a. A pH of 0 to less than 7 indicates the presence of more
hydrogen ions and is considered acidic. The lower the
pH, the more acidic.
b. A pH of 7 indicates a neutral solution with equal
numbers of hydrogen ions and hydroxide (OH-) ions.
c. A pH of greater than 7 to 14 indicates the presence of
more hydroxide ions and is considered basic or
alkaline. The higher the pH, the more basic.
d. Between each whole number of the pH scale there is a
tenfold difference in hydrogen ion concentration. A pH
of 3 is ten times more acidic than a pH of 4.
7. Buffers are chemicals that combine with excess acids or
bases to help minimize pH changes in body fluids.

28
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 Fig 2.11 29
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2.3 Chemical constituents of cells

30
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A. Organic compounds contain both hydrogen and
carbon.
B. All other compounds are considered inorganic and
they usually dissolve in water and release
ions, making them electrolytes.

31
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1. Water
a. Water is the most abundant compound in
living things and makes up two-thirds of the
weight of adults.
b. Water is an important solvent so most
metabolic reactions occur in water.
c. Water is important in transporting materials
in the body since it is a major component of
blood.
d. Water can absorb and transport heat.
e. Water acts as a reactant in many metabolic
reactions in the body
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 Inorganic compounds, cont
2. Oxygen - needed to release energy from
nutrients and is used to drive the cell's
metabolism.
3. Carbon Dioxide - released as a waste product
during energy-releasing metabolic reactions.
4. Salts
a. Salts provide necessary ions including
sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium,
magnesium, phosphate, carbonate,
bicarbonate, and sulfate.
b. These electrolytes play important roles in
many of the body's metabolic processes.

33
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 Table 2.4 34
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C. Organic Substances
1. Carbohydrates
a. Carbohydrates provide energy for cellular
activities and are composed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.
b. The smallest carbohydrates are
monosaccharides (simple sugars) – glucose,
fructose, galactose, ribose, deoxyribose
c. Disaccharides (double sugars) – lactose,
sucrose, maltose
d. Polysaccharides – many glucose molecules
joined together; glycogen, starch

35
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 Fig 2.12 36
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 Fig 2.13 37
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 2. Lipids
a. Lipids are organic substances that are
insoluble in water and include fats,
phospholipids, and steroids.
b. Fats supply energy for cellular function,
and are built from glycerol and three fatty
acids. Fats have a smaller proportion of
oxygen atoms than carbohydrates.
1) Fatty acids with hydrogen at every
position along the carbon chain are
saturated fats
2) Those with one or more double bonds
are called unsaturated fats.

38
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 Fig 2.14 39
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 Lipids, cont

c. Phospholipids contain glycerol, two fatty

acids, and a phosphate group, and are
important in cell structures.
d. Steroids are complex ring structures, and
include cholesterol, which is used to
synthesize the sex hormones and several
hormones from the adrenal glands.

40
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 Fig 2.15 41
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 Fig 2.16 42
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3. Proteins
a. Proteins have a great variety of functions in
the body – as structural materials, energy
sources, certain hormones, receptors on
cell membranes, antibodies, and enzymes
to catalyze metabolic reactions.
b. Proteins contain C, O, H, and N (nitrogen)
atoms; some also contain S (sulfur).

43
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 Proteins, cont
c. Building blocks of proteins are the amino
acids, each of which has a carboxyl group,
an amino group and a side chain called the
R group.

Fig 2.17 44
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 Proteins, cont.
d. Proteins have complex shapes held together
by hydrogen bonds.
1) Primary structure – sequence of amino
acids
2) Secondary structure – pleated or twisted
into a coil
3) Tertiary – more pleats and twists into a
globular form
4) Quaternary structure – two or more
strands join into a larger molecule

45
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 Fig 2.18 46
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 Proteins, cont.

e. Protein shapes (conformations) determine

how proteins function
f. Denaturation – disruption of a protein’s
shape by pH, temperature, radiation, or
chemicals. Makes the protein nonfunctional.

47
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4. Nucleic Acids
a. Nucleic acids form genes and take part in
protein synthesis.
b. They contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, and phosphorus, which are bound
into building blocks called nucleotides.
c. Each nucleotide consists of a 5-carbon
sugar, a phosphate group, and one of five
nitrogenous bases.

48
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 Fig 2.20 49
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 Nucleic acids, cont.
d. Nucleic acids are of two major types: DNA (with
deoxyribose) and RNA (with ribose).
e. RNA (ribonucleic acid) functions in protein synthesis
and is single-stranded
f. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) stores the molecular code
in genes and is a twisted double strand.
g. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a modification of RNA
that contains three phosphate groups that provides
energy for chemical reactions in the body.

50
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 Fig 2.21 51
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 Fig 2.22 52
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