Deck 3: Lifes Components: Biological Molecules

Question 1

In some vintage science fiction movies, space travelers find themselves on a planet orbiting a distant star in which there are curious forms of life based on silicon instead of carbon. Although the story clearly is sci-fi, there is an aura of plausibility in the choice of silicon, an atom with 14 protons, in place of carbon as this alien life-form's central atom. The reason is that silicon:

A) has four electrons in its outermost shell.
B) has one more proton than carbon so is very similar to it.
C) is an isotope of carbon.
D) is lighter than carbon.
E) is heavier than carbon.

Answer 1

has four electrons in its outermost shell.

Question 2

Which of the following is an organic molecule?

A) H₂O
B) C₄H₁₀
C) NH₃
D) O₂

Answer 2

C₄H₁₀

Question 3

Unique chemical groups that are added to carbon compounds are called:

A) monomers.
B) amino acids.
C) functional groups.
D) lipids.

Answer 3

functional groups.

Question 4

Refer to the table above and then answer the questions that follow.

-The functional group phosphate is found in:

A) proteins.
B) amino acids.
C) alcohols.
D) nucleic acids.

Question 5

Refer to the table above and then answer the questions that follow.

-Hydroxyl groups are found in:

A) amino acids, because they contain carbohydrates.
B) glycogen, because they contain carbohydrates.
C) nucleotides, because they contain carbohydrates.
D) glycogen and nucleotides, because they contain carbohydrates.

Question 6

Monosaccharides are determined by which of the following groups?

A) carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a ratio of 1:2:1
B) the presence of carbon and hydrogen in a ratio of 1:2
C) a carboxyl group
D) a molecule of three to six carbon atoms
E) the presence of glycerol and fatty acids

Question 7

Refer to the chemical reaction below then answer the question that follows.

-Which molecule is the disaccharide?

A) sucrose
B) glucose
C) water
D) fatty acids

Question 8

Refer to the chemical reaction below then answer the question that follows.

-Polysaccharides are made up of:

A) amino acids.
B) nucleotides.
C) steroids.
D) lipids.
E) sugars.

Question 9

Refer to the chemical reaction below then answer the question that follows.

-Chitin and cellulose are polymers of:

A) amino acids.
B) nucleic acids.
C) glucose.
D) fats.

Question 10

Refer to the chemical reaction below then answer the question that follows.

-Your cousin eats only rice. Her diet will be very high in which of the following types of biological molecules?

A) glucose
B) fat
C) cholesterol
D) protein

Question 11

Refer to the chemical reaction below then answer the question that follows.

-In plants, glucose is stored primarily as:

A) glycogen.
B) starch.
C) cellulose.
D) chitin.

Question 12

Butter, which is made from milk fat, tends to be harder at room temperature than most margarines. If you wanted to make a "softer butter at cool room temperature, you should consider:

A) making the fatty acid chains longer.
B) making fatty acid chains with fewer kinks.
C) creating more double bonds in the fatty acid chains.
D) saturating the fatty acid chains.
E) adding more than three fatty acid chains to the triglycerides.

Question 13

A kilocalorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1,000 grams of water 1 degree Celsius (the "calories given for energy in foods are actually kilocalories). If you applied 1 kilocalorie of heat energy to 1,000 grams of vegetable oil, how much do you think its temperature would increase?

A) less than one degree Celsius
B) more than one degree Celsius
C) one degree Celsius
D) to the boiling point
E) not at all

Question 14

Lipids:

A) include fats that are broken down into one fatty acid molecule and three glycerol molecules.
B) serve as long-term energy reserves in many organisms.
C) include cartilage and chitin.
D) are a component of proteins.

Question 15

The monomers of a neutral fat (triglyceride) are:

A) amino acids.
B) carboxyl acids.
C) sugars.
D) nucleotides.
E) glycerol and fatty acids.

Question 16

The structural backbone of any membranous structure in a cell is the:

A) membrane-bound proteins.
B) the phospholipid bilayer.
C) glycolipids.
D) steroids.
E) glycoproteins.

Question 17

Which of the following are composed of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen?

A) phospholipids
B) glucose
C) amino acids
D) DNA

Question 18

You love to eat potato chips, but you realize they contain many trans fats. Eating too many potato chips will negatively effect your health because it can:

A) cause you to have more HDL than LDL.
B) cause you to have no HDL.
C) cause you to have no LDL.
D) cause you to have more LDL than HDL.

Question 19

It is recommended to include fish as part of a healthy diet because it contains ________, which lead to a reduction in LDL.

A) trans fats
B) polyunsaturated fats
C) monounsaturated fats
D) omega-3 fatty acids

Question 20

You eat a steak. This meal contains mostly of:

A) protein.
B) starch.
C) nucleic acids.
D) glucose.

Question 21

Refer to the figure above and then answer the question that follows.

-The difference between one amino acid and another is:

A) the type of peptide bond that each contains.
B) whether or not it is saturated.
C) the type of R-group that it may contain.
D) the type of sugar that each contains.
E) the type of base groups it contains.

Question 22

Refer to the figure above and then answer the question that follows.

-Proteins may function as:

A) hormones.
B) enzymes.
C) structural building materials.
D) transport molecules.
E) all of the above

Question 23

Refer to the figure above and then answer the question that follows.

-________ are the very heart of life, allowing cells to do such things as build structures, speed chemical reactions, and move.

A) Proteins
B) Lipids
C) Nucleic acids
D) Sterols
E) Carbohydrates

Question 24

Refer to the figure above and then answer the question that follows.

-Proteins are made up of:

A) sugars.
B) nucleotides.
C) steroids.
D) amino acids.
E) lipids.

Question 25

Before DNA was established as the genetic material, proteins were considered the most likely molecules to serve this role. In part this belief was based on the fact that there are 20 building blocks (20 different kinds of amino acids) for proteins versus four building blocks (four different nucleotides) for DNA. If proteins stored a code, there would be a far greater number of code words possible for a protein of a given number of amino acids than for a DNA molecule of the same number of nucleotides. For example, there are 16 different sequences (4 4) possible for a DNA two nucleotides, long and 400 (20 20) different sequences possible for a protein two amino acids long. For a sequence three nucleotides or three amino acids in length, the number of distinct DNA sequences is ________, and the number of distinct protein sequences is ________.

A) 64; 8,000
B) 800; 8,000
C) 30; 800
D) 64; 800
E) 20; 420

Question 26

DNA is made up of:

A) proteins.
B) steroids.
C) nucleotides.
D) amino acids.
E) sugars.

Question 27

Oxygen is an organic molecule.

Question 28

Lipids with double bonds become solids at lower temperatures than do saturated fats.

Question 29

Some proteins function as enzymes, but others don't.

Question 30

Some proteins can be toxic.

Question 31

Oil doesn't dissolve in water because it isn't a ________ molecule.

Question 32

ATP is an energy-carrying modified ________.

Question 33

It is better to have ________ HDLs than LDLs in your blood.

Question 34

If you boil an egg for lunch, the egg white becomes hard, white, and opaque because the protein in it has been ________.

Question 35

You have a defect in catalyzing the reaction to make the amino acid tryptophan. The reason is that you lack the gene in your ________, which causes you to lack the ________ that allows you to catalyze this reaction.

Question 36

Match column 1 with the items in column 2.

-Is composed of functional units called genes

A) polysaccharide
B) DNA
C) globular proteins
D) glycoproteins

Question 37

Match column 1 with the items in column 2.

-A carbohydrate polymer

A) polysaccharide
B) DNA
C) globular proteins
D) glycoproteins

Question 38

Match column 1 with the items in column 2.

-Serve as cell surface receptors

A) polysaccharide
B) DNA
C) globular proteins
D) glycoproteins

Question 39

Match column 1 with the items in column 2.

-May serve as either enzymes or antibodies

A) polysaccharide
B) DNA
C) globular proteins
D) glycoproteins

Question 40

How are monomers united into polymers? Give a specific example.

Question 41

Kwashiorkor is a disease that results from too little amino acids in the diet. What essential component are people with this disease unable to produce?