Nucleic Acids

Nucleic Acids store hereditary information and that information is for making all the body's proteins. There are two types: DNA and RNA. DNA stands for Dioxyribonucleic Acid and has double strands known as a double helix. RNA stands for Ribonucleic Acid and has only one strand. A nucleic acid consists of a sugar, phosphate, and base, and are polymers of nucleotides. The bases for DNA are Adenine & Thymine, and Guanine & Cytosice. For RNA, the pairs are the same, but Thymine is replaced by Uracil.

Carbohydrates

Carbs are in food items such as soft drinks adn pasta. A part of carbohydrates are monosaccharides, which are simple sugars: glucose, fructose, and galactose. They have the same chemical formula (C6H12O6), but different structural makeups. Such a case is called an isomer. More examples of monosaccaharides are sports drinks(glucose), fruits(fructose), honey(glucose and fructose), "milk sugar"(galactose). When in water, monosaccharides form rings. They are the main fuel for cellular work. Disaccharides are Double sugars and are made by joining two monosaccharides together and taking a water molecule in the process, called condensation. Such as bond is a Glycosidic bond. The common disaccharides are sucrose(table sugar), lactose(milk sugar), and maltose(grain sugar). Sucrose is made of glucose and fructose, maltose is made of two glucose molecules, and lactose is made from galactose and glucose. Getting even bigger, we come to Polysaccharides, or, complex carbs composed of many sugar monomers linked together. They are polymers of monosaccharide chains. Some polysaccharides include starch, glycogen, and previously posted cellulose. Starch(the polysaccharide of plants) serves as the lipids for plants and stores the plant's energy. Potatoes and grains are primary sources of starch for humans. Glycogen (the polysaccharides of animals) is used by animals to store extra sugar, in the form of glycogen. It is similar in structure to starch because they are both made of glucose monomers. For cellulose, see the other post.

Lipids

Lipids are hydrophobic which means they don't dissolve in water. There are four major lipids: Fats, Waxes, Steroids, and Oils. Lipids, or fats, store energy, help to insulate the body, and cushion and protect organs. There are saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, unsaturated having a double bond meaning the body can break it down. Saturated goes strait to the thighs. Triglycerides are monomers of lipids and are composed of glycerol and three fatty acid chains. Glycerol is the main "structure" or support for fat. Lipids also makeup cell membrane and are called phospholipids, which have a polar head and hydrophobic, nonpolar fatty acid tails (two).

Proteins

Proteins are polymers made of monomers  called amino acids. All proteins are made of 20 different amino acids, as stated earlier, and they are all linked differently. Proteins have many uses, including building cell walls, acting as hormones and enzymes, and many other things. There are four types of proteins (starting to see a trend in four?): Storage, Structural, Contractile, and Transport.

Polymers

Polymers are large molecules with repeating units. They are build from smaller molecules, called monomers. ALL POLYMERS ARE MACROMOLECULES, BUT NOT ALL MACROMOLECULES ARE POLYMERS. The four major macromolecules are Proteins, Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Nucleic Acids.

Functional Groups

There are four major funtional groups: Hydroxyl, Corbonyl, Carboxyl, and Amino. Speeking of aminos, there are 20 differnt amino acids! But that's off topic. These groups are groups of atoms that give properties to the compounds to which the attach. The compounds for Hydroxyls are Alcohols, for Carbonyls are Aldehydes and Ketones, for Carboxyls are Carboxylic Acids, and for Aminos are Amines. Put it on note cards if this doesn't make sence.

Carbon

Carbon is the base of all molecules in living things. Organic Chemistry is the study of carbon compounds, like the simplest carbon compound, a hydrocarbon. It contains one carbon and four hydrogen molecules, since carbon has four spaces for bonding. Know gas? Its a huge, complicated hydrocarbon. Also, energy from fat comes from hydrocarbons, so they are obviously important. Plus, to add to the confusion, each organic molecule has its own 3-D shape, which determines the function.