Mauricio Gutierrez

Homework Assignment #2 (Chapters 2, 3-4.1)

Chapter 2- Chemistry of Life

Section 2.1- The Building Blocks of Molecules

1) What is matter composed of? Elements

2) Describe what an element is. A chemical substance that can not be broken down or
transformed

3) What is an isotope? Isotopes are different forms of the same element that have the same
number of protons, but a different number of neutrons.

4) What are two carbon (C) isotopes mentioned in your book? Carbon 12 Carbon 14++

5) How many protons, neutrons and electrons do each of the carbon isotopes have?

Carbon 12= 6protons 6neutrons 6electrons Carbon14= 6Proton 8Neutrons 6electrons

6) What are the 4 different types of chemical bonds?

Ionic bond, Covalent bond, Hydrogen bonds, and Van der Waals interactions

a. What are the two strongest bonds?

Ionic and covalent bonds

b. Which are the weakest?

hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions.

7) List the 4 properties of water mentioned in your book?

Polar, Solvent, Adhesion, cohesive

8) Answer the following questions using the pH scale (Figure 2.12) on page 38 of your
textbook:
a. What pH is considered neutral on a pH scale? 7

b. What pH range is considered acidic on a pH scale? 6.9

c. What pH range is considered basic on a pH scale? 7.1

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Section 2.3- Biological Molecules

1) What makes a biological molecule organic? Carbon

2) Name the simplest organic carbon molecule? Methane (CH4)

3) Name the four major classes of biological macromolecules.

Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids

4) What are the 3 subtypes that carbohydrates are classified into?

Monosaccharides-sugar, Disaccharides milk, Polysaccharide- carbohydrate wheat

5) What are the monomers that make up proteins called?

Amino acids

6) What are the two nucleic acids mentioned in your textbook? deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). What are the monomers that make up these nucleic
acids called? nucleotides.
7) What are the three components that make up a nucleotide?
Nitrogenous base, a pentose (five-carbon) sugar, and a phosphate group

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Chapter 3- Cell Structure and Function

Section 3.1- How Cells are Studied

1) What is the smallest unit of a living thing?

The Cell
2) Individual cells are too small to be seen with the naked eye. What equipment do scientists
use to study cells?
Light and electron Microscopes.

Section 3.2- Comparing Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells

3) What two categories do cells fall into?

Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic

4) What 4 common components do all cells (prokaryotes and eukaryotes) share?

a. plasma membrane
b. cytoplasm
c. DNA
d. Ribosomes

5) What are the main differences between prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells?
prokaryotic cells are organism that lacks a nucleus, or any other membrane-bound organelle.
eukaryotic cell is a cell that has a membrane-bound nucleus and other membrane-bound
compartments or sacs, called organelles (little organs)
Section 3.3- Eukaryotic Cells

6) Both prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells have a plasma membrane. What is the function of
the plasma membrane? a phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins that separates the
internal contents of the cell from its surrounding environment.

7) Besides organelles and cytoplasm, the cell contains a network of protein fibers that help
maintain the shape of the cell.
a. What is this network of protein fibers called? cytoskeleton.
b. What are other known functions of this protein fiber network? secures certain
organelles in specific positions, allows cytoplasm and vesicles to move within the
cell, and enables unicellular organisms to move independently.

8) What is the function of the following organelles?

a. Ribosomes- cellular structures responsible for protein synthesis.
b. Mitochondria- responsible for making adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s
main energy-carrying molecule.
c. Peroxisomes- They carry out oxidation reactions that break
down fatty acids and amino acids. They also detoxify many poisons that may enter the body.

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 9) Going back to prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells:
a. Are animal cells prokaryotic or eukaryotic? eukaryotic
b. Are plant cells prokaryotic or eukaryotic? eukaryotic
c. Give an example of a prokaryotic cell? Bacteria and Archaea.

10) What are the 3 main structures found in plant cells that animal cells do not have?
a. The cell wall
b. Photosynthesis
c. The central vacuole

Section 3.4- The Cell Membrane

11) A cell’s plasma membrane defines the boundary of the cell and determines the nature of
its contact with the environment. Cells exclude, take in and excrete substances in
controlled quantities via the plasma membrane. In 1972 a new model of the plasma
membrane was proposed by scientists S. J. Singer and Garth L. Nicolson. What is this
new model of the plasma membrane called? fluid mosaic model

Section 3.5- Passive Transport

12) Plasma membranes are selectively permeable. What does this mean? They allow certain
substances to enter and leave a cell, while preventing harmful material from entering.
and essential material from leaving.

13) Membrane transport is the ability for substances to cross the plasma membrane in both
directions: into the cell and out of the cell.
a. What is passive transport? is a naturally occurring phenomenon of membrane
transport and does not require the cell to expend energy to accomplish the
movement.
b. In which direction do substances move through the plasma membrane in passive
transport? substances move from an area of higher concentration to an area of
lower concentration in a process called diffusion

14) In facilitated diffusion, like in passive transport, substances move across the plasma
membrane. What is the difference between passive transport and facilitated diffusion?
In Passive transport, the material being transported is first attached to protein or
glycoprotein receptors on the exterior surface of the plasma membrane.

15) What is osmosis? Osmosis is the diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane
according to the concentration gradient of water across the membrane.

16) What is a solute? Different concentrations dissolved that cannot cross the membrane

17) Tonicity describes the amount of solute in a solution. The terms, hypotonic, isotonic and

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 hypertonic are used to describe the tonicity of a solution in comparison to the cells inside
of it. Looking at the images in figure 3.22 on page 80 answer the following questions
regarding red blood cells:
a. In a hypertonic solution, in which direction will water move; into the cell or out of
the cells? Leave the cell
b. In a hypotonic solution, in which direction will water move; into the cell or
out of the cells? Into the cell
c. In an isotonic solution, in which direction will water move; into the cell or out of
the cells? If the concentration of solutes of the cell matches that of the
extracellular fluid, there will be no net movement of water into or out of the cell.

Chapter 4- How Cells Obtain Energy

Section 4.1- Enzymes

18) What is an enzyme? Molecules that catalyze biochemical reactions,proteins.

19) When a substrate binds an enzyme, it initiates a chemical reaction causing the enzyme to
break the substrate into two or more products. Using figure 4.8 on page 99, explain in
your own words what is happening in the diagram. Use and underline the following terms
in your explanation: 1. substrate, 2. enzyme, 3. active site, 4. enzyme/product complex, 5.
products.

Substrate is binding to an enzyme to create a product while leaving active enzyme

behind.
1.Substrate entering the active site of the enzyme, 2. Enzyme/substrate complex , Enzyme
changes shape slightly as substrate binds, 3. Enzyme/product complex, , substrate
changed to product, 4. Products leaving the active site of the enzyme.