Macromolecules
These are the four major macromolecules found in living organisms.
What are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids?
This macromolecule provides long‑term energy storage and insulation.
What are lipids?
This is the monomer of proteins.
What is an amino acid?
Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by lowering this.
What is activation energy?
Increasing temperature generally does this to enzyme activity—up to a point.
What is increases it?
This term refers to the small building blocks that join to form macromolecules.
What are monomers?
Glucose, starch, and cellulose all belong to this macromolecule group.
What are carbohydrates?
This is the monomer of nucleic acids.
What is a nucleotide?
This term describes the molecule that an enzyme acts on.
What is a substrate?
Extremely high temperatures cause enzymes to lose their shape, a process called ____.
What is denaturation?
This macromolecule is the primary source of quick energy for cells.
What are carbohydrates?
Enzymes belong to this macromolecule group.
What are proteins?
This macromolecule has a ring‑like structure and is often drawn as a hexagon.
What are carbohydrates?
This model describes how enzymes and substrates fit together like a key and a lock.
What is the lock‑and‑key model?
Each enzyme works best at a certain pH. This is called its ____.
What is optimal pH?
This macromolecule stores genetic information.
What are nucleic acids (DNA/RNA)?
DNA and RNA differ because RNA contains this sugar instead of deoxyribose.
What is ribose?
This macromolecule is often drawn as long hydrocarbon chains.
What are lipids?
When an enzyme loses its shape due to heat or pH, this has happened.
What is denaturation?
Increasing substrate concentration increases reaction rate until enzymes reach this point.
What is saturation?
This macromolecule is made of long chains of amino acids.
What are proteins?
This macromolecule forms cell membranes due to its hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions.
What are phospholipids?
Explain how structure determines function using proteins as an example.
The shape of a protein determines how it interacts with other molecules. If the shape changes, the protein may no longer function.
Explain why enzymes are considered “specific.”
Each enzyme only works with one substrate because their shapes must match.
Describe how you would design an investigation to test how pH affects enzyme activity.
Prepare identical enzyme solutions, expose each to different pH levels, measure the reaction rate (e.g., product formation), plot the results, and compare activity across pH conditions.