Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Atoms or monomers that make up Glucose, Protein and Lipids(including fats and oils).

Glucose is considered to be a monomer. It is made of a
chain of 6 carbon atoms linked by single covalent bonds. Five Hydroxyl (OH) groups and
seven hydrogen atoms are also linked to the carbons. Two different stereoisomers of
glucose exist in nature.


Proteins are made of amino acids
linked by peptide bonds. This means that carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen are the
main atoms present. The polypeptide chain formed by the initial linking of amino acids
often undergoes several folding steps and may have other atoms or molecules, known as
prosthetic groups, added to it before it becomes a complete and functional protein.
Iron, in the form of a heme group, is an example of a prosthetic group found in
hemoglobin.


Lipids are made primarily of fatty acid
molecules, which consist of a hydrocarbon chain with a carboxylic acid group at one end.
Functional groups including oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or members of the Halogen family
are commonly found attached to the hydrocarbon chain as well.  The main physical feature
that distinguishes fats from oils in this group is saturation, which in this case refers
to the structure of the carbon-carbon bonds in the hydrocarbon chain. A saturated fat is
generally a solid fat, and has all single carbon-carbon bonds. Unsaturated fats have
some double or triple bonds between carbons, and are generally oils at room
temperature.

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