CBSE

Class 11 Biology
NCERT Exemplar Solutions
Chapter 9
Biomolecules

Exercise

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. It is said that elemental composition of living organisms and that of inanimate

objects (like earth's crust) are similar in the sense that all the major elements are
present in both. Then what would be the difference between these two groups? Choose
a correct answer from among the following:

(a) Living organisms have more gold in them than inanimate objects

(b) Living organisms have more water in their body than inanimate objects

(c) Living organisms have more carbon, oxygen and hydrogen per unit mass than inanimate
objects.

(d) Living organisms have more calcium in them than inanimate objects.

Ans. (c) Living organisms have more carbon, oxygen and hydrogen per unit mass than
inanimate objects.

Explanation: Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are the main components of organic
compounds. This gives the clue for the correct answer.

2. Many elements are found in living organisms either free or in the form of
compounds. One of the following is not, found in living organisms.

(a) Silicon

(b) Magnesium

(c) Iron

(d) Sodium

www.vedantu.com 1
Ans. (a) Silicon

Explanation: Iron is found in haemoglobin, sodium and magnesium play important role in
some metabolic activities.

3. Amino acids have both an amino group and a carboxyl group in their structure.
Which amongst the following is an amino acid?

(a) Formic acid

(b) Glycerol

(c) Glycolic acid

(d) Glycine

Ans. (d) Glycine

Explanation: The name of most of the amino acids ends with ‘ine’. This gives the clue for
glycine.

4. An amino acid under certain conditions has both positive and negative charges
simultaneously in the same molecule. Such a form of amino acid is called

(a) Acidic form

(b) Basic form

(c) Aromatic form

(d) Zwitterionic form

Ans. (d) Zwitterionic form

Explanation: The term ‘zwitterion’ comes from a German word which means a neutral
molecule with positive and negative charges.

5. Which of the following sugars have the same number of carbon as present in

www.vedantu.com 2
glucose?

(a) Fructose

(b) Erythrose

(c) Ribulose

(d) Ribose

Ans. (a) Fructose

Explanation: Both glucose and fructose are monosaccharides and each contains 6 atoms of
carbon.

6. An acid soluble compound formed by phosphorylation of nucleoside is called

(a) Nitrogen base

(b) Adenine

(c) Sugar phosphate

(d) Nucleotide

Ans. (d) Nucleotide

Explanation: When a phosphate group is added to a nucleoside, it becomes a nucleotide.

7. When we homogenise any tissue in an acid the acid soluble pool represents

(a) Cytoplasm

(b) Cell membrane

(c) Nucleus

(d) Mitochondria

Ans. (a) Cytoplasm

www.vedantu.com 3
Explanation: Scientist have found thousands of organic compounds in acid soluble pool.
Cytoplasm contains various organic compounds and hence represents acid soluble pool.

8. The most abundant chemical in living organisms could be

(a) Protein

(b) Water

(c) Sugar

(d) Nucleic acid

Ans. (b) Water

Explanation: Water composes about 70% of body weight of humans. This should give clue
for ‘water’ as the correct answer.

9. A homopolymer has only one type of building block called monomer repeated ‘n’
number of times. A heteropolymer has more than one type of monomer. Proteins are
heteropolymers usually made of

(a) 20 types of monomers

(b) 40 types of monomers

(c) 30 types of monomers

(d) only one type of monomer

Ans. (a) 20 types of monomers

Explanation: Proteins are made of 20 types of amino acids.

10. Proteins perform many physiological functions. For example, some functions as
enzymes. One of the following represents an additional function that some proteins
discharge

www.vedantu.com 4
(a) Antibiotics

(b) Pigment conferring colour to skin

(c) Pigments making colours of flowers

(d) Hormones

Ans. (d) Hormones

Explanation: Antibiotics which contain enzymes do contain protein but many antibiotics
may not contain enzymes or protein. Pigments are not proteins.

11. Glycogen is a homopolymer made of

(a) Glucose units

(b) Galactose units

(c) Ribose units

(d) Amino acids

Ans. (a) Glucose units

Explanation: The term ‘glyco’ is derived from glucose.

12. The number of ‘ends’ in a glycogen molecule would be

(a) Equal to the number of branches plus one

(b) Equal to the number of branch points

(c) One

(d) Two, one on the left side and another on the right side

Ans. (a) Equal to the number of branches plus one

13. The primary structure of a protein molecule has

www.vedantu.com 5
(a) Two ends

(b) One end

(c) Three ends

(d) No ends

Ans. (a) Two ends

14. Which of the following reactions is not enzyme-mediated in biological system?

(a) Dissolving CO2 in water

(b) Untwining the two strands of DNA

(c) Hydrolysis of sucrose

(d) Formation of peptide bond

Ans. (a) Dissolving CO2 in water

Explanation: Reactions in b, c and d are enzyme-mediated while ‘a’ is the correct option.

www.vedantu.com 6
 SHORT ANSWER TYPE
QUESTIONS

1. Enzymes are proteins. Proteins are long chains of amino acids linked to each other by
peptide bonds. Amino acids have many functional groups in their structure. These
functional groups are, many of them at least, ionisable. As they are weak acids and
bases in chemical nature, this ionization is influenced by pH of the solution. For many
enzymes, activity is influenced by surrounding pH. This is depicted in the curve given,
explain briefly.

Ans. This graph shows a curve which rises and then falls. It means that an enzyme shows
optimum activity at a particular pH. Below this pH, the enzyme will show least action.
Similarly, when the pH rise more than the optimum pH, the enzymatic action slows down
again.

2. Is rubber a primary metabolite or a secondary metabolite? Write four sentences

about rubber.

Ans. Rubber is a secondary metabolite. Metabolites which do not have any identifiable
function in the host organism are called secondary metabolites. Rubber does not have any
known function for the plant and hence it is called secondary metabolite. However, rubber
has certain economic significance for human beings. Rubber is used for making a variety of

www.vedantu.com 7
useful items; like tyre, eraser, toys, insulation layer, gloves, etc.

3. Schematically represent primary, secondary and tertiary structures of a hypothetical

polymer say for example a protein.

Ans. Following diagrams show primary, secondary and tertiary structures of protein:

4. Nucleic acids exhibit secondary structure, justify with example.

Ans. We know that when a long chain of polymer is arranged as helix; the helix is called
secondary structure. We also know that DNA is a double helix structure. Even RNA forms a
single helix. Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids. Since they show helices; they exhibit
secondary structure.

5. Comment on the statement “living state is a non-equilibrium steady-state to be able

to perform work”.

www.vedantu.com 8
Ans. According to the law of physics; a system in equilibrium can not work. The same logic is
true for any biological system. A biological system is always in non-equilibrium and is in
steady state. The state of non-equilibrium ensures that the biological system is always in
working mode. Various processes in the living being are attempts towards preventing it from
falling into equilibrium. This is done by providing energy inputs through metabolic
processes. Synchronisation among various metabolic processes maintain the steady state of
the biological system.

www.vedantu.com 9
 VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE
QUESTIONS

1. Medicines are either man made (i.e., synthetic) or obtained from living organisms
like plants, bacteria, animals etc. and hence the latter are called natural products.
Sometimes natural products are chemically altered by man to reduce toxicity or side
effects. Write against each of the following whether they were initially obtained as a
natural product or as a synthetic chemical.

(a) Penicillin

(b) Sulfonamide

(c) Vitamin C

(d) Growth Hormone

Ans. (a) Natural product

(b) Synthetic chemical

(c) Natural product

(d) Natural product

2. Select an appropriate chemical bond among ester bond, glycosidic bond, peptide
bond and hydrogen bond and write against each of the following.

(a) Polysaccharide

(b) Protein

(c) Fat

www.vedantu.com 10
(d) Water

Ans. (a) Glycosidic bond

(b) Peptide bond

(c) Ester bond

(d) Hydrogen bond

3. Write the name of any one amino acid, sugar, nucleotide and fatty acid.

Ans. (a) Amino acid: glycine

(b) Sugar: Fructose

(c) Nucleotide: Adenosine triphosphate

(d) Fatty acid: Palmitic acid

4. Reaction given below is catalysed by oxidoreductase between two substrates A and

A’, complete the reaction.

A reduced + A’ oxidized

Ans. A reduced + A’ oxidized A oxidized + A’ reduced

5. How are prosthetic groups different from co-factors?

Ans. Enzymes are composed of one or several polypeptide chains. But in many cases, non-
protein constituents called co-factors are bound to the enzyme. A co-factor makes the
enzyme catalytically active. There are three types of co-factors, viz. prosthetic groups, co-
enzymes and metal ions.

Prosthetic groups are different from other co-factors in the sense that they are tightly bound
to the apoenzyme. For example; haem is the prosthetic group and it is a part of the active site
of the enzyme.

www.vedantu.com 11
6. Glycine and Alanine are different with respect to one substituent on the -carbon.
What are the other common substituent groups?

Ans. In Glycine and Alanine; other common substituent groups are NH2, COOH and H. The

following diagram shows this:

7. Starch, Cellulose, Glycogen, Chitin are polysaccharides found among the

following. Choose the one appropriate and write against each.

(a) Cotton fibre

(b) Exoskeleton of cockroach

(c) Liver

(d) Peeled potato

Ans. (a) Cellulose

(b) Chitin

(c) Glycogen

(d) Polysaccharide

www.vedantu.com 12
 LONG ANSWER TYPE
QUESTIONS

1. Formation of enzyme-substrate complex (ES) is the first step in catalysed reactions.

Describe the other steps till the formation of product.

Ans. An enzyme catalyses a reaction, it means it hastens the rate of reaction.Thus, if under
normal circumstances a particular number of units of product is formed; one can get many
times more units in the same time when the reaction is enzyme mediated.

An enzyme-mediated reaction can be broken into three main steps, which are as follows:

(a) Formation of enzyme-substrate complex (ES)

(b) Transient Stage

(c) Formation of Product

In the first step, the enzyme binds to the substrate at ‘active site’. This results in formation of
enzyme-substrate complex.

Transient Phase: This is the altered structure state of the substrate. This is the unstable
stage. Had there been no enzyme, the required activation energy would have been much
higher. But because of the presence of enzyme, the reaction takes place with a less amount of
energy.

Formation of Product: Once the transient phase is over, final product is formed. With this
the potential energy of the system also comes down drastically. This can be shown by the
following graph. Once the product is formed, the enzyme becomes free to bind with another
substrate.

www.vedantu.com 13
2. What are different classes of enzymes? Explain any two with the type of reaction they
catalyse.

Ans. Enzymes are divided into six classes. Each class is further subdivided into 4 to 13 sub-
classes. Following are the six classes of enzymes:

(a) Oxidoreductase/Dehydrogenase: Enzymes which catalyse oxidoreduction between two

substrates are called oxidoreductase Following is an example of oxidoreductase reaction:

S reduced + S’ oxidized S oxidized + S’ reduced

(b) Transferase: Enzymes which facilitate transfer of a group (other than hydrogen)
between two substrates are called transferase. The following example shows a transferase
reaction:

S-G+S’ S+S’-G

(c) Hydrolase

(d) Lysase

(e) Isomerase

(f) Ligase

3. Nucleic acids exhibit secondary structure. Describe through Watson-Crick Model.

Ans. We know that when a long chain of polymer is arranged as helix; the helix is called
secondary structure. We also know that DNA is a double helix structure. Even RNA forms a

www.vedantu.com 14
single helix. Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids. Since they show helices; they exhibit
secondary structure. The following diagram shows the model of DNA as proposed by Watson
and Crick.

4. What is the difference between a nucleotide and nucleoside? Give two examples of
each with their structure.

Ans. There are many biomolecules which have heterocyclic rings. Some of them are nitrogen
bases. When nitrogen bases are found attached to a sugar; they are called nucleosides. When
nitrogen bases and sugar are found attached to a phosphate group; they are called
nucleotides. Adenosine, guanosine, thymidine, uridine, and cytidine are nucleosides.
Adenylic acid, thymidylic acid, guanylic acid, uridylic acid and cytidylic acid are nucleotides.

Following are structures of some of them:

5. Describe various forms of lipid with a few examples.

Ans. Lipids can be divided into three main types, viz. simple, compound and derived lipids.

www.vedantu.com 15
Simple Lipids: Esters of fatty acids are called simple lipids. They can be further
divided into following:
(a)Fats: Esters of higher fatty acids with glycerol are called fats.
(b) Waxes: Esters of higher fatty acids with alcohol are called waxes.

Compound Lipids: When esters of fatty acids with glycerol and alcohol contain other
groups also; they are called compound lipids. These can be further divided into
following:
(a) Glycerophospholipids: As the name suggests, they contain phosphorus group.
They are also called phospholipids. Examples: Lecithin, cephalin, etc.
(b) Sphingo Lipids: When phospholipids contain
(c) Glycolipids: As the name suggests, these contain monosaccharides. Examples:
cerebrosides and gangliosides.

(iii) Derived Lipids: When lipid is composed of a hydrocarbon ring and a long
hydrocarbon chain, it is called derived lipid. Example: Cholesterol.

www.vedantu.com 16