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SUBJECT: Biology TOPIC: Biological molecules
CLASS: 10 BOARD: IGCSE
BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES
CHEMICALS & LIFE:
Chemical Elements:
✓ Most of the molecules in living organisms fall into three categories:
o Carbohydrates
o Proteins
o Lipids
✓ These all contain carbon and so are described as organic molecules.
LARGE MOLECULES ARE MADE FROM SMALLER MOLECULES:
Carbohydrates:
✓ Long chains of simple sugars.
✓ Glucose is a simple sugar (a monosaccharide).
✓ When 2 glucose molecules join together maltose is formed (a disaccharide).
✓ When lots of glucose molecules join together starch, glycogen or cellulose can form (a polysaccharide).
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Fats:
✓ Most fats (lipids) in the body are made up of triglycerides.
✓ Their basic unit is 1 glycerol molecule chemically bonded to 3 fatty acid chains.
✓ The fatty acids vary in size and structure.
✓ Lipids are divided into
o Fats (solids at room temperature)
o Oils (liquids at room temperature)
Proteins:
✓ Long chains of amino acids.
✓ There are about 20 different amino acids.
✓ They all contain the same basic structure but the ‘R’ group is different for each one.
✓ When amino acids are joined together a protein is formed.
✓ The amino acids can be arranged in any order, resulting in hundreds of thousands of different proteins.
✓ Even a small difference in the order of the amino acids results in a different protein being formed.
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FOOD TESTS IN BIOLOGY:
Test for glucose (a reducing sugar):
✓ Add Benedict's solution into sample solution in test tube.
✓ Heat at 60 - 70 °C in water bath for 5 minutes.
✓ Take test tube out of water bath and observe the colour.
✓ A positive test will show a colour change from blue to orange or brick red.
Test for starch using iodine:
✓ We can use iodine to test for the presence or absence of starch in a food sample.
✓ Add drops of iodine solution to the food sample.
✓ A positive test will show a colour change from orange-brown to blue-black.
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Test for protein:
✓ Add drops of Biuret solution to the food sample.
✓ A positive test will show a colour change from blue to violet/purple.
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Test for lipids:
✓ Food sample is mixed with 2cm3 of ethanol and shaken.
✓ The ethanol is added to an equal volume of cold water.
✓ A positive test will show a cloudy emulsion forming.
Test for vitamin C:
✓ Add 1 cm3 of DCPIP solution to a test tube.
✓ Add a small amount of food sample (as a solution).
✓ A positive test will show the blue colour of the dye disappearing.
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STRUCTURE OF A DNA MOLECULE:
✓ DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the instructions for the growth and
development of all organisms.
✓ It consists of two strands of DNA wound around each other in what is called a double helix.
Nucleotides:
✓ The individual units of DNA are called nucleotides.
✓ All nucleotides contain the same phosphate and deoxyribose sugar, but differ from each other in the base
attached.
✓ There are four different bases,
o Adenine (A)
o Cytosine (C)
o Thymine (T)
o Guanine (G)
✓ The bases on each strand pair up with each other, holding the two strands of DNA in the double helix.
✓ The bases always pair up in the same way:
o Adenine always pairs with Thymine (A-T).
o Cytosine always pairs with Guanine (C-G).
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✓ The phosphate and sugar section of the nucleotides form the ‘backbone’ of the DNA strand (like the sides
of a ladder) and the base pairs of each strand connect to form the rungs of the ladder.
✓ It is this sequence of bases that holds the code for the formation of proteins.
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