Chapter 4: Chemical Composition in a Cell
What you need to learn in this chapter
In this chapter, we will learn about the chemical composition in a cell. Firstly, we will explore the properties of water molecules and understand how these properties are important. Next, we will study carbohydrates, which are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. We will learn about the different types of carbohydrates, including monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. Moving on, we will delve into proteins, which are composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. We will understand how dipeptides and polypeptides are formed and broken down. Lastly, we will explore lipids, which consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. We will learn about the main types of lipids, nucleic acids and their functions in the cell.
Topics in this chapter
1. Water
What you will learn in this topic
- Describe the properties of water molecules
- Correlate the properties of water with its importance in the cell
2. Carbohydrates
What you will learn in this topic
- List the elements of carbohydrate
- Explain the types of carbohydrates: (i) monosaccharides, (ii) disaccharides, (iii) polysaccharides
- Conceptualise the formation and breakdown of: (i) disaccharides, (ii) polysaccharides
- Write and explain the word equation for the formation and the breakdown of disaccharides
- Justify the importance of carbohydrates in cell
3. Proteins
What you will learn in this topic
- List the elements of proteins
- Conceptualise the formation and the breakdown of dipeptides and polypeptides
- Write and explain the word equation for the formation and the breakdown of dipeptides
- Justify the importance of proteins in a cell
4. Lipids
What you will learn in this topic
- List the elements in lipids
- Explain the main types of lipids
- Describe the formation and the breakdown of triglyceride
- Write and explain the word equation for the formation and the breakdown of a triglyceride
- Justify the importance of lipids in cell and multicellular organisms
5. Nucleic Acids
What you will learn in this topic
- List the elements in nucleic acids
- Explain the structure of nucleotides: (i) nitrogenous base. (ii) ribose or deoxyribose sugars. (iii) phosphate
- Describe the structure of the nucleic acids: (i) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). (ii) ribonucleic acid (RNA)
- Justify the importance of nucleic acids in cells: (i) carrier of hereditary information. (ii) production of proteins.
- Describe the formation of chromosomes from DNA and proteins
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