1. Describe the following five major groups of compounds that compose the human body.

Include their functions in your essay, but focus on how their chemical structure promotes a human cell and a human body to function. a. carbohydrates b. lipids c. proteins a. carbohydrates Carbohydrates are classified into three groups : 1. monosaccharide - simplest kind of carbohydrate and consists of a single sugar molecule, such as fructose of glucose. - Each simple sugar has a cyclic structure and is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in ratios of 1:2:1 respectively. 2. Disaccharide - consists of two sugar molecules joined by a glycosidic linkage. During this link process, a water molecule is lost. -glucose + fructose = sucrose (common table sugar) - glucose + galactose = lactose (the sugar in milk) - glucose + glucose = maltose 3. Polysaccharide - consists of a series of connected monosaccharides. Thus, a polysaccharide is a polymer because it consists of repeating units of monosaccharide. - Examples of polysaccharides : 1. Starch- a polymer of alpha glucose molecules. It is the principal energy storage molecule in plant cells. 2. Glycogen- a polymer of alpha glucose. It differs from starch by its pattern of polymer branching. It is a major energy storage molecule in animal cells. 3. Cellulose a polymer of beta glucose molecules. It serves as a structural molecule in the walls of plant cells and is the major component of wood. 4. Chitin a polymer similar to cellulose, but each beta glucose molecule has a nitrogencontaining group attached to the ring. It serves as a structural molecule in the walls of fungus cells and in the exoskeletons of insects, other arthropods, and mollusks. d. nucleotides e. steroids/hormones

Functions of Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are a good source of energy for the body Carbohydrates store energy in the form of starch in plants or glycogen in animals and humans. Carbohydrates serve as a main shield and protector to the muscles, as it helps in the proper regulation of sugar into the blood stream to ensure that each and every cell is supplied with adequate amounts of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates help cell fertilization, growth, and development. Glucose is the only sugar used by the body for its tissues. This means that eventually, all digestible polysaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides must eventually be converted into glucose or a metabolite of glucose by various liver enzymes. Because glucose is so important for cellular function, blood glucose levels must be kept relatively constant. Forms structural components in cells and tissues.

Lipids ( do not dissolve in water) 1. Lipids are a class of substances that are insoluble in water but are soluble in nonpolar substances. There are three major groups of lipids: a. Triglycerides- Examples of triglycerides are fats, oils, and waxes. Triglycerides consist of three fatty acids attached to a glycerol molecule. Fatty acids are hydrocarbons (chains of covalently bonded carbons and hydrogens) with a carboxyl group ( -COOH) at one end of the chain. i. There a three types of fatty acids: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated 1. Saturated fatty acid has a single covalent bond between each pair of carbon atoms, and each carbon has two hydrogens bonded to it (three hydrogens bonded to the last carbnon). Think of each carbon is saturated with hydrogen 2. Monounsaturated fatty acid has one double covalent bond and each of the two carbons in this bond has only one hydrogen atom bonded to it. 3. Polyunsaturated fatty acid a monounsaturated fatty acid except that there are two or more double covalent bonds. b. Phospholipid looks just like a lipid except that one of the fatty acid chains is replaced by a phosphate group. i. The two other fatty acid tails of the phospholipid are nonpolar and hrydrophobic bur the phosphate head is polar and hrydrophilic. ii. This means that a phospholipid is amphipathic, which means that it has both polar and nonpolar regions. c. Steroids i. Characterized by a backbone of four linked carbon rings.

2. Functions of lipids a. Lipids are the molecules that make up fats and oils. Fat is obviously important for humans and animals because it insulates them from the cold. b. They serve as important energy reserves in plants and animals. In other words, carbohydrates create the energy but the lipids store the energy for future purposes. c. Lipids are also major components of nerve cells, hormones, and cell membranes. d. Lipids form the membrane of body cells. The membrane, also known as the plasma membrane, is made up of a bilayer of lipids. This lipid layer keeps bad things from entering the cell and it is semi-permeable. This means that it can select what enter and what doesn t. e. More about the lipid bilayer membrane: it holds the cell together and keeps organelles safely inside the cell. Proteins 1) Proteins can be grouped according to their functions. a) Structural proteins examples of a structural proteins are keratin in the hair and horns of animals, collagen in connective tissues, and silk in spider webs. b) Storage proteins Example: casein in milk, ovalbumin in egg whites, and zein in corn seeds. c) Transport Proteins these proteins are in the membranes of cells and they transport materials into and out of cells and as oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in red blood cells. d) Defensive proteins examples of these proteins are antibodies that procide protection against foreign substances that enter the bodies of animals. e) Enzymes (most important protein)- these regulate the rate of chemical reactions. 2) There might be many functions of proteins, but the structures are similar. a) All proteins are polymers of amino acids, which means that they consist of a chain of amino acids covalently bonded. Each amino acid has a central carbon atom. There are three groups of atoms bound to this carbon. i) The bonds between the amino acids are called peptide bonds, and the chain is a polypeptide or peptide. ii) Proteins differ from another by the number and arrangement of the twenty different amino acids. (1) Each amino acid consists of a central carbon bonded to an amino group (-NH2), a carboxyl group (-COOH), and a hydrogen atom. The fourth bond of the central carbon is shown with the letter R (for radical). The R indicates an atom or group of atoms that varies from one kind of amino acid to another. 3) There are four different structures of a protein. a) The primary structure This structure describes the order of amino acids. b) Secondary Structure a three-dimensional shape that results from hydrogen bonding between the amino and carboxyl groups of adjacent amino acids.

c) Tertiary structure includes additional three-dimensional shaping and often dominates the structure of globular proteins. d) Quaternary structure describes a protein that is assembled from two or more separate peptide chains. 4) Functions of Proteins a) Proteins hold your skin together and help give your bones their strength. b) Proteins in our red blood cells bind to oxygen so that our blood can transport oxygen through our bodies. c) Proteins help to fight diseases. d) Proteins can be used as a source of energy. e) Most important ! Proteins control the chemical reactions in our body. Nucleotides 1) Nucleotides of DNA have three parts a) Phosphate group b) A five-carbon sugar called deoxyribose c) A nitrogen-containing base 2) There are four types of nucleotides in DNA (a polymer of nucleotides) a) Thymine- a single ring base (pyrimidine) b) Adenine- a double-ring base (purine) c) Guanine- a double-ring base (purine) d) Cytosine a single ring base. (pyrimidine) i) Pyrimidines are single ring bases and purines are double-ring bases. 3) Functions of Nucleotides a) They make us the structural units of DNA and RNA. They also play a part in metabolism. 4) Nucleotides in RNA a) Like DNA, RNA molecules are made up of long strings of nucleotides. The nucleotides in RNA, however, are different from the nucleotides in DNA. b) RNA nucleotides contain a five-carbon sugar called ribose instead of the five-carbon sugar deoxyribose found in DNA. c) RNa nucleotides have a nitrogen base called uracil instead of T. Steroids/ hormones 1) Steroids are characterized by a backbone of four linked carbon rings. 2) Examples of steroids include cholesterol and certain hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. 3) Hormones are a type of lipid. Hormones act as chemical messengers to the body, and lipid hormones play a huge role in regulating metabolism. 4) As a result, a lack of lipids in the body would deter sexual maturation or sexual health.