Bio Unit 2: Chemistry of Life

living; being or relating to living organisms

physical / nonliving; not associated or derived from living organisms

genetic material that organisms inherit from their parents

internal systems in an organism that keep order and make up its whole

having different developmental stages

an organism’s reaction to an external/environmental signal (light, temperature, smell)

pass on an organism’s genetic information to its offspring

organisms need to consume things to survive

change/act accordingly in response to one’s surroundings

basic unit of all forms of life

relatively constant internal physical and chemical conditions that organisms maintain

particle that can replicate only by infecting living cells (made of protein, nucleic acids, and sometimes lipids)

the basic unit of matter

pure substance that consists entirely of one type of atom

smallest unit of most compounds that displays all the properties of that compound

substance formed by the chemical combination of two or more elements in definite proportions

positively charged particle; located in the nucleus

negatively charged particle; located in the space surrounding the nucleus

particle with no charge; located in the nucleus

tells you the number of atoms in the preceding element

the whole number in front of the compound that tells you how many of the compound there are

an expression that shows the elements in a chemical compound or molecule

small chemical unit that makes up a polymer

molecule composed of many monomers; makes up macromolecules

compound made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms; types of nutrients that are the major source of energy to the body

macromolecule made mostly from carbon and hydrogen atoms; includes fats, oils, and waxes

subunit of which nucleic acids are composed; made up of a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base

macromolecule containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous

macromolecule that contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; needed by the body for growth and repair

compound with an amino group on one end and a carboxyl group on the other end

elements or compounds that enter into a chemical reaction

elements of compounds produced by chemical reactions

energy input that is needed for a reaction to begin

substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction

protein catalyst that speeds up the rate of specific biological reactions

reactant of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction

the cavity on an enzyme where the substrate enters in