Chemistry Basics
What term describes anything that has mass and takes up space?
What is matter?
What smaller building blocks join together to form proteins?
What are amino acids?
What fluid-filled region outside the nucleus contains the cell’s organelles?
What is cytoplasm or cytosol?
What does it mean to say a membrane is selectively permeable?
What is it allows some substances to cross more readily than others?
Which DNA base pairs with adenine, and which pairs with cytosine?
What is A-T and C-G?
An ice pack melts against a patient’s ankle. Is melting a physical or chemical change?
What is physical change?
A triglyceride contains which two types of building blocks, and how many of each?
What are one glycerol and three fatty acids?
Which internal framework helps a cell maintain its shape and organize its structures?
What is cytoskeleton?
Pressure pushes water and small dissolved substances through a membrane. What passive transport process is occurring?
What is filtration?
An original DNA strand has the sequence A–C–T–G–G–A. Give the sequence of its complementary DNA strand.
What is T-G-A-C-C-T
An atom contains 8 protons, 9 neutrons, and 8 electrons. Identify its atomic number and mass number.
What is 9 and 17?
Which type of fat typically contains carbon–carbon double bonds and are usually liquid at room temperature?
What are unsaturated?
A cell’s nucleolus becomes inactive. Which structures would become harder to produce, and how could this affect the cell?
What are ribosomes? Few ribosomes could reduce protein production.
A white blood cell surrounds a large particle and brings it inside in a vesicle. Name the general transport process and classify it as active or passive.
What is endocytosis and active transport?
A cell copies a gene into RNA, and then uses that RNA to assemble a protein. Name these two stages in order.
What is transcription then translation?
Two atoms each have 6 protons, but one has 6 neutrons and the other has 8 neutrons. What are these atoms called, and why are they still the same element?
What is because they are isotopes?
Collagen forms strong fibers in tendons, while many enzymes have compact, rounded shapes. Classify each as a fibrous or globular protein and connect its shape to its job.
What is fibrous proteins? Collagen provides support and strength. Enzymes are globular. They have a folded shape specific for their function.
A cell cannot effectively break down hydrogen peroxide. Which organelle is most directly involved in this problem?
What are peroxisomes?
A dissolved substance has a higher concentration outside a cell than inside. If the membrane is permeable to it, predict its net direction of diffusion. What happens to net movement when equilibrium is reached?
Two cells contain the same DNA, but one becomes a nerve cell and the other becomes a muscle cell. Name the process that gives them different structures and functions. Explain how they can have different jobs despite sharing DNA.
What is cell specialization? Different cells use different genes to produce proteins that support their structures and functions.
A reaction produces gas in an uncovered container. Afterward, the measured mass is lower. Explain why this observation does not disprove the law of conservation of mass.
What is because gas escaped into the surroundings so the total mass is conserved?
An enzyme works on one particular substance but cannot bind a differently shaped substance. Explain this selectivity using the terms substrate and active site.
What is the substrate must fit the enzyme's active site in shape and chemical properties?
Compare a heart muscle cell that contracts continuously with a cell that has much lower energy demands. Which would you expect to contain more mitochondria? Explain the connection between its job and its organelles.
A cell’s ATP supply drops sharply. Predict what would happen to filtration and endocytosis, assuming pressure and membrane conditions remain unchanged. Explain the difference.
Filtration will continue because it does not require ATP. Endocytosis would decrease or stop because it requires ATP.
Under a microscope, a student observes chromosomes lined up across the middle of a dividing cell. Predict the next major chromosome movement and explain how it helps the two new nuclei receive matching genetic information.
What is the sister chromatids will separate and move towards opposite sides of the cell? Each new nucleus receives one copy of each chromosome.