The Role of Carbon in Organisms Life substances The Role of Carbon in Organisms

How many different words can you make from the letters: R T A E ? ??? How many different words can you make from the letters: R T A E ?

??? Think about the amount of words you could make from only 4 letters. Now explain how only 90 natural elements could form all of the different substances on Earth.

Structure of carbon 4 electrons in its outer shell = 4 covalent bonds Allows for different shapes of structures Allows for diversity in carbon compounds

Structure of carbon Isomers – compounds that have the same chemical formula, but differ in three dimensional shape. Polymers of carbon are large molecules made from many smaller carbon molecule units (sugars  starches)

Carbohydrates Provide energy (esp. for nervous system) C, H, O - 1:2:1 Simple sugars = monosaccharides Monosaccharides can link together to form a polysaccharide – starch

Lipids Mostly carbon and hydrogen w/ very little oxygen Fats, oils, steroids Glycerol “backbone” w/ fatty acids attached = glyceride Functions: energy storage, insulation, protective coverings; major component in membranes

Proteins Made of C, H, O, N, and sometime S Monomer = amino acid (20 common ones) Combinations of amino acids can make thousands of different 3-D proteins

Proteins Amino acids are linked together through dehydration synthesis creating a peptide bond Enzyme is a protein catalyst; it is used to speed up a reaction, usually by lowering its activation energy, but is not used up in the reaction

Complex molecule used to store hereditary info Nucleic Acids Complex molecule used to store hereditary info Monomers = nucleotide = sugar, nitrogenous base, phosphate group Made up of C, H, N, P, and O

Found in DNA and RNA – named for the sugar found on the nucleotides Nucleic Acids Found in DNA and RNA – named for the sugar found on the nucleotides DNA is the gene sequence found in all organisms RNA is used in protein synthesis in various ways