 All living things are made up of a collection of atoms and molecules that work together to support life  Nearly all living things on planet Earth are supported by one atom, an atom of Carbon  There are Four primary Carbon Based Molecules supporting all life on our planet: › Carbohydrates ~ sugars › Lipids ~ fats › Proteins ~ amino acid chain (polypeptide) › Nucleic acids ~ DNA, RNA, & ATP

 Carbon based molecules can be small and they can be very large.  The smallest are called monomers and usually consist of one carbon ring or molecule  Larger carbon based molecules are made up of many monomers to form a polymer › Mono = one › Poly = many

 Carbohydrates as carbon based molecules › Also known as “sugars” › Made up of three elements:  Carbon  Hydrogen  Oxygen › A couple of the simplest carbohydrates are fructose and glucose  These are single carbon ring molecules that provide energy for cellular respiration

 Carbohydrates can be a simple sugar like Glucose or many Glucose monomers linked together  A Disaccharide is a sugar that has two Glucose monomers › The most common disaccharide is sucrose

 Polysaccharides are many Glucose monomers linked together  Starch ~ a polysaccharide sugar made by plants to store energy  Cellulose ~ a polysaccharide made by plants to form cell walls  Glycogen ~ a polysaccharide made by animals to store sugar for energy (usually in the liver)

 Lipids are an important carbon based molecule that can be broken down into energy for the cell and function as part of the cell’s structure  They include fats, oils, and cholesterol  They are non-polar and repel polar substances like water

 Lipids store a huge amount of energy in their fatty-acid tails  A lipid is saturated if the Carbon chain is loaded with Hydrogen atoms  A lipid is unsaturated if there are a few or more double bonds between Carbons making it “kink”

 Proteins are another important carbon-based molecule made up of several dozen to thousands of amino acids  An amino acid chain is also known as a polypeptide chain because of its many peptide bonds holding the amino acids together

 Nucleic acids are the fourth Carbon based molecule  They are all made up of monomers called nucleotides  DNA, RNA, and ATP are nucleic acids that are found in all living organisms › ATP pictured here has 3 phosphates bonded to a 5- Carbon sugar and a Nitrogen base

 An enzyme is a protein polymer that is made up of many amino acid monomers  Cells use enzymes to catalyze biochemical reactions › To “make them happen” › To “speed up reactions”  An enzyme has a unique 3-dimensional shape that defines the role/job that it performs  An enzymes shape is maintained by being in the right temperature, pH (acidity), and ionic conditions

 Chemical Reactions  Reactants  Products › Water + Carbon Dioxide  Glucose + Oxygen + Water  Activation energy is the “energy required to start a chemical reaction” › Think of pushing a ball to the top of a small hill so that it can roll down a very steep slope on the other side › The energy it took to push the ball to the top of the hill is the activation energy  Enzymes often lower activation energies

 When enzymes are present, the breakdown of Glucose happens easier 

 An enzyme protein has an active site where a substrate molecule attaches  This makes it possible for a chemical reaction to occur and the enzyme acts as a catalyst

 Enzymes are often referred to as having a “lock and key” model  Enzymes are affected by temperature and as temp. increases, enzyme activity increases