Week 7 learning

This week in AP Bio we learned about carbon and macromolecules.

Lecture: Carbon

Carbon is tetravalent
- It makes 4 bonds to get stable which leads to infinite variety
There is nothing special about life’s building blocks
- Vitalism: belief in life force
- Mechanism: theory that there is nothing special about how life is built
Isomerism
- Isomers: molecules with the same molecular formula but different structures
- 3 kinds
  - Structural: same formula, different order
  - cis-trans: same formula, different positioning around double bond
  - Enantiomers: same formula, mirror image positioning around a central carbon
    - Biological systems tend to use only one of any 2 enantiomeric forms.

Lecture: Macromolecules

Big! Hence “macro.”
Made up of a few, common atoms
Accomplish all life functions
4 Main Kinds
- carbohydrates
- lipids
- proteins
- nucleic acids
Building Macromolecules
- exist in 2 forms
  - monomers: simplest
  - polymers: a large molecule made of repeating monomers
Dehydration synthesis
- Builds more complex molecules
- Water is produced
- Builds Complexity
- Requires energy and enzymes
Hydrolysis
- Reverse dehydration synthesis
- Lysis: breaking
- Water is needed
- Reduces complexity (Catabolic)
- Releases energy (Exergonic)
- Enzymes required
Monosaccharides and Disaccharides
- Major carbohydrates used for energy
Polysaccharides
- Energy Storage
Amino Acids
- 21 total known
- Every amino acid differs in structure. Structure of the R group varies widely.
Primary Structures
- the sequence of amino acids in one polypeptide chain
Secondary Structure
- regular, repeating 3D structures found in all polypeptide chains
Tertiary Structure
- The specific 3D shape of a particular polypeptide chain aka the “conformation”
Quartenary Structure
- The specific 3D shape of any protein that is made of more than one polypeptide chain
Proteins are responsible for all life related cells.
Hemoglobin: Carries oxygen in red blood cells
Denaturation
- change in the structure of a protein

Questions/ Reflections

I wouldn’t say this week has to relate to any of the big ideas directly, but will help with understanding big idea 2, including “All living systems require constant input of free energy *constant input of energy is necessary for full function of a system.”

Helpful Resources