Chemistry of Life: Understanding Cell Processes

2. Table of Contents Chapter 9: Cell Processes Section 1: Chemistry of Life

3. Chemistry of Life 1 A. The Nature of Matter 1. Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. It exits in three forms – solids, liquids, and gases. 2. Energy is anything that brings about change. 3. Everything in your environment, including you, is made of matter. 4. Energy can hold matter together or break it apart.

4. Chemistry in Life 2. Although they have nearly equal masses, a proton has a positive charge and a neutron has no charge. 1 B. Atoms 1. At the center of an atom is a nucleus that contains protons and neutrons. 3. Outside the nucleus are electrons, each of which has a negative charge. Click image to view movie.

6. Chemistry in Life 1 B. Atoms 4. Electrons are the part of the atom that is involved in chemical reactions. 5. An atom is mostly empty space. Energy holds the parts of an atom together.

7. Chemistry in Life 1 C. Elements 1. When something is made up of only one kind of atom, it is called an element. 2. An element can’t be broken down into a simpler form by chemical reactions. 3. Scientists have given each element its own one- or two-letter symbol.

8. Chemistry in Life 1 C. Elements 4. All elements are arranged in a chart known as the periodic table of elements. 5. The table provides information about each element including its mass, how many protons it has, and its symbol.

9. Chemistry in Life 1 C. Elements

10. Chemistry in Life 1 D. Compounds and Molecules 1. Compounds are made up of two or more elements in exact proportions. For example, pure water is always made up of hydrogen atoms bonded to oxygen atoms in a ratio of two hydrogen atoms to one oxygen atom. 2. There are two types of compounds— molecular compounds and ionic compounds.

11. Chemistry in Life 1 E. Molecular Compounds 1. The smallest part of a molecular compound is a molecule. 2. A molecule is a group of atoms held together by the energy of chemical bonds.

12. Chemistry in Life 1 E. Molecular Compounds 3. When chemical reactions occur, chemical bonds break, atoms are rearranged, and new bonds form. 4. The molecules produced are different from those that began the chemical reaction.

13. Chemistry in Life 5. Molecular compounds form when different atoms share their outermost electrons. Two atoms of hydrogen each can share one electron on one atom of oxygen to form one molecule of water. 1 E. Molecular Compounds 6. Water does not have the same properties as oxygen and hydrogen.

14. Chemistry in Life 1 F. Ions 1. Atoms also combine because they’ve become positively or negatively charged. 2. Atoms are usually neutral—they have no overall electric charge. 3. When an atom loses an electron, it has more protons than electrons, so it becomes positively charged.

15. Chemistry in Life 1 F. Ions 4. When an atom gains an electron, it has more electrons than protons, so it becomes negatively charged. 5. Electrically charged atoms—positive or negative—are called ions.

16. Chemistry in Life 1 G. Ionic Compounds 1. Ions of opposite charges attract one another to form electrically neutral compounds called ionic compounds. 2. Table salt is made of sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) ions. 3. When they combine, a chlorine atom gains an electron from a sodium atom. 4. The chlorine atom becomes a negatively charged ion, and the sodium atom becomes a positively charged ion.

17. Chemistry in Life 1 G. Ionic Compounds 5. These oppositely charged ions then are attracted to each other and form the ionic compound sodium chloride, NaCl.

18. Chemistry in Life 1 G. Ionic Compounds 6. Messages are sent along your nerves as potassium and sodium ions move in and out of nerve cells. 7. Calcium ions are important in causing your muscles to contract.

19. Chemistry in Life 1 H. Mixtures 1. A mixtureis a combination of substances in which individual substances retain their own properties.

20. Chemistry in Life 1 H. Mixtures 2. Mixtures can be solids, liquids, gases, or any combination of them. 3. Most chemical reactions in living organisms take place in mixtures called solutions.

21. Chemistry in Life 1 H. Mixtures 4. In a solution, two or more substances are mixed evenly. 5. A suspension is formed when a liquid or a gas has another substance evenly spread throughout it. 6. Unlike solutions, the substances in a suspension eventually sink to the bottom.

22. Chemistry in Life 1 I. Organic Compounds 1. All living things are made up of compounds that are classified as organic or inorganic. 2. Rocks and other nonliving things contain inorganic compounds. 3. Organic Compoundsalways contain carbon and hydrogen and usually are associated with living things.

23. Chemistry in Life 1 I. Organic Compounds 4. Organic molecules can contain hundreds or even thousands of atoms that can be arranged in many ways.

24. Chemistry in Life 1 I. Organic Compounds 5. Four groups of organic compounds make up all living things—carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

25. Chemistry in Life 1 J. Carbohydrates 1. Carbohydrates are organic molecules that supply energy for cell processes. 2. Sugars and starches are carbohydrates that cells use for energy. 3. Some carbohydrates also are important parts of cell structures.

26. Chemistry in Life 1 K. Lipids 1. Lipids do not mix with water. 2. Lipids such as fats and oils store and release even larger amounts of energy than carbohydrates do. 3. One type of lipid, the phospholipid, is a major part of cell membranes.

27. Chemistry in Life 1 L. Proteins 1. Proteins are made up of smaller molecules called amino acids. 2. Proteins are the building blocks of many structures in organisms. 3. Your muscles contain large amounts of protein. 4. Proteins are scattered throughout cell membranes. 5. Certain proteins called enzymesregulate nearly all chemical reactions in cells.

28. Chemistry in Life 1 M. Nucleic Acids 1. Large organic molecules that store important coded information in cells are called nucleic acids. 2. One nucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA—genetic material—is found in all cells at some point in their life. 3. Another nucleic acid, ribonucleic acid, or RNA, is needed to make enzymes and other proteins.

29. Chemistry in Life 1 N. Inorganic Compounds 1. Most inorganic compounds are made from elements other than carbon. 2. Generally inorganic molecules contain fewer atoms than organic molecules. 3. Inorganic compounds are the source for many elements needed by living things.

30. Chemistry in Life 1 N. Inorganic Compounds 4. Inorganic compounds can contain the elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. 5. One of the most important inorganic compounds for living things is water.

31. Chemistry in Life 1 O. Importance of Water 1. Living things are composed of more than 50 percent water and depend on water to survive. 2. You can live for weeks without food but only a few days without water.

32. Chemistry in Life 1 O. Importance of Water 3. Although seeds and spores of plants, fungi, and bacteria can exist without water, they must have water if they are to grow and reproduce.

33. Chemistry in Life 1 O. Importance of Water 4. All the chemical reactions in living things take place in water solutions, and most organisms use water to transport materials through their bodies. 5. Plants use water to move minerals and sugars between roots and leaves.

34. Chemistry in Life 1 P. Characteristics of Water 1. The atoms of a water molecule are arranged in such a way that the molecule has areas with different charges. 2. Water molecules are like magnets. 3. The negative part of a water molecule is attracted to the positive part of another water molecule just like the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet.

35. Chemistry in Life 1 P. Characteristics of Water 4. This attraction, or force, between water molecules is why a film forms on the surface of water. 5. The film is strong enough to support small insects because the forces between the water molecules are stronger than the force of gravity on the insect.

36. Chemistry in Life 1 P. Characteristics of Water 6. Because water molecules are so strongly attracted to each other, the temperature of water changes slowly. 7. The large percentage of water in living things acts like an insulator. 8. The water in a cell helps keep its temperature constant, which allows life-sustaining chemical reactions to take place.

37. Chemistry in Life 1 P. Characteristics of Water 9. When water freezes, ice crystals form. 10. In the crystals, each water molecule is spaced at a certain distance from all the others. 11. Because this distance is greater in frozen water than in liquid water, ice floats on water. 12. Bodies of water freeze from the top down. 13.The floating ice provides insulation and allows living things to survive.

38. Section Check 1 Question 1 _______ is anything that has mass and takes up space.

39. Section Check 1 Question 2 A(n) _______ is made up of only one kind of atom.

40. Section Check 1 Question 3 Which best describes the structure in this illustration? A. atom B. element C. molecular compound D. ionic compound

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42. End of Chapter Summary File