Question

A. Review What are the major elements of life?

Answer 1

Answer:

1. The major elements of life are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur.

2. Its ability to catenate; its ability to form bonds easily with other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen; its ability to form single, double and triple.

3. Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids, and Nucleic acids

4. Carbohydrate provide energy; Proteins serve as structural elements;

Lipids serve as structural components of membranes;

Nucleic acids store and transmit genetic information

5. Proteins are considered polymers while Lipids are not because proteins are composed of monomeric subunits of amino acids whereas lipids do not have monomeric subunits.

Explanation:

1. The major elements of life are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulfur as they are found in many structures of living organisms- in proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids and lipids.

2. Carbon has the ability to form different large and complex structures because:

(I) its ability to catenate which is the ability to combine with one another to form straight, branched chain or ring compounds containing many carbon atoms.

(ii) carbon can form single, double and triple with itself and other life elements.

(iii) the relative stability of the covalent bonds formed by carbon.

3. Four groups of organic compounds found in living things are Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids, and Nucleic acids.

4. Carbohydrate provide energy; Proteins serve as structural elements;

Lipids serve as structural components of membranes;

Nucleic acids store and transmit genetic information

5. Polymers are large molecular weight compounds built up from subunits called monomers.

Proteins are considered polymers because they are large molecular weight molecules composed of monomeric subunits of amino acids.

Lipids are not considered polymers because individually, they are not very large molecules and do not have monomeric subunits rather are composed of long fatty acids chains linked to a glycerol molecule.