Atomic Structure and Bonds
Cells are made mostly of atoms of these few elements.
What are C, H, O, and N?
These are the four major families of small organic molecules found in cells.
What are sugars, fatty acids, amino acids, and nucleotides?
Cells obtain energy by oxidizing these organic molecules.
What are sugars or organic molecules?
Enzymes bind substrates with high specificity due to this type of molecular interaction.
What are noncovalent interactions?
The outermost electrons determine this about an atom, affecting chemical bonding.
What is chemical reactivity?
Covalent bonds are formed by the sharing of these.
What are electrons?
These large molecules composed of amino acid subunits perform most catalytic and structural functions.
What are proteins?
Photosynthetic organisms use this external source to synthesize organic molecules.
What is sunlight?
The rapid motion of molecules increases enzyme efficiency by promoting this.
What is substrate-enzyme collision frequency?
Water has an unusually high value of this property, which aids in temperature regulation.
What is heat capacity?
These types of bonds, including hydrogen bonds and ionic interactions, are important for molecular shaping.
What are noncovalent bonds?
These molecules form cell membranes and serve as energy stores in cells.
What are lipids or fatty acids?
Activation energy barriers are lowered in cells by these biological catalysts.
What are enzymes?
Molecules with similar chemical properties can substitute amino acids without disrupting this aspect of proteins.
What is protein function or structure?
Acids and bases in cells are defined by their ability to donate or accept these ions.
What are hydrogen ions (H+)?
This property of water molecules arises from their polar covalent bonds.
What is polarity?
Polysaccharides and sugars primarily serve this function in cells.
What is energy source and structural support?
These molecules carry energy within the cell, often by transferring phosphate groups.
What are activated carrier molecules or ATP?
Enzymes can catalyze reactions by stabilizing this transient form of a substrate.
What is the transition state?
This property allows molecules to dissolve in water and interact with charged groups.
What is polarity?
This bond type involves attraction between a partially positively charged hydrogen and a neighboring electronegative atom.
What is a hydrogen bond?
This macromolecule family stores genetic information.
What are nucleic acids?
This term describes the energy released as heat allowing cells to maintain biological order.
What is free energy (or entropy increase)?
Cellular metabolism is organized into these types of sequences, where the product of one reaction is the substrate of another?
What are metabolic pathways?
This term refers to the free energy change that determines reaction spontaneity.
What is ΔG (Gibbs free energy change)?