Question

What functional groups are associated with carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids

What are the functions of carbohydrates?  Give examples of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

What are the characteristics of lipids?

How are saturated fats different from unsaturated fats?

Answer 1

Question: What functional groups are associated with carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids?

Answer:

Functional groups are small groups atoms in a molecule that participate in characteristic chemical reaction.

Functional groups of carbohydrates: a number of hydroxyl groups and a carbonyl group.

Functional groups of lipids: 3 fatty acids are linked to a glycerol ​​​​​​.

• glycerol- 3 carbons each containing a hydroxyl group.
• fatty acids- carboxyl group and a hydrocarbon chain with about 15 other carbon atoms.

Functional groups of Protein (amino acid, building blocks of proteins): carboxyl group and amino group.

Functional groups of Nucleic acid ( DNA and RNA): phosphate group.

Question: What are the functions of carbohydrates?

Answer: The functions of carbohydrates:

• Carbohydrates serve as a major source of energy for cells in animal body (4 calories per gram). Brain is totally depend on glucose for energy.
• They are essential of production, temperature control and proper functioning of the different parts of the animal body.
• They help in normal fat metabolism. Oxidations of fat in cells produces ketones.
• Carbohydrates supply carbon atoms for synthesis of other biomolecules (protein, lipids and nucleic acid)

• They are stored as glycogen, excess carbohydrates in the diet is converted into fat and stored. These reserve energy material of the body in liver and muscles of animals and starch in plants.
• Carbohydrates help to absorb of calcium and phosphorus.
• They help in the secretion of digestive juices in gastrointestinal tract.
• Carbohydrates help in formation of cell organelles and cell compounds (pentose sugar are the components of RNA, DNA, ATP and NAD).

Question: Give examples of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

Answer:

1. Example of monosaccharides (single suger molecule): Glucose, Fructose, Galactose, Mannose, Ribose, Xylose,etc.
2. Example of disaccharides (two suger molecule linked): Maltose, Sucrose, Lactose, Cellobiose, Trehalose, etc.
3. Example of polysaccharide (many suger molecules linked): Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose, etc.

Question: What are the characteristics of lipids?

Answer: The characteristics of lipids are:

1. Lipids are consist of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen.
2. They have hydrocarbon chains as a major part of their chemical structure.
3. They are insoluble in water (hydrophobic), but soluble in fat or non-poler organic solvents like benzene, ether, chloroform, acetone, etc.
4. It is important component of cell membrane or plasma membrane.
5. Lipids are energy storage molecules.
6. They may be either liquids or non-crystalline solids at room temperature.
7. It includes fats, oils,sterols, phospholipid, lipoprotein, waxes and related compounds.

Question: How are saturated fats different from unsaturated fats?

Answer: Saturated fatty acids lack double bonds i.e. single bond between in individual carbon atoms of fatty acid chain, while in unsaturated fatty acids there is atleast one double bond in the fatty acid chain.