Supplementary Notes for S3 (Biology)

Class: ( ) Name:

Molecules of Life

A. Chemical substances in the organisms

Organisms are made of matter, which is composed of four major elements.
They are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N).
Together with other elements, various types of substances are formed that make up organisms.
(i) Major organic substances (有機物質) that are important to life:
 Carbohydrates (碳水化合物)
 Proteins (蛋白質)
 Lipids (脂質)
 Nucleic acids (核酸)
As these molecules are found in organisms, they are called biomolecules (生物分子) and
they all contain carbon.
(ii) Inorganic substances (無機物質) that are commonly found in organisms:
 Water
 Minerals

nucleic acids (1%)

minerals (2%) carbohydrates (1%)

lipids (15%)

proteins (16%) water (65%)

The approximate proportions of chemical substances in the human body

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B. Organic substances
1. Carbohydrates
Common name Water
Carbohydrates are organic substances made up of
Chemical formula H2O
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Structural formula H―O―H
They have a general formula of Cx(H2O)y.
Structural model
The ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms is 2:1.
Cells use different types of carbohydrates as fuels,
structural materials or energy storage.

e.g. Glucose molecule

The chemical formula of glucose (a 6-carbon carbohydrate) is C6H12O6.

Carbohydrates are classified into three types according to their complexity:

(i) Monosaccharides (單糖)

 Monosaccharides are the simplest forms of carbohydrates.

 They are soluble in water and taste sweet.
 They can be used as building blocks to build other larger molecules.
 All monosaccharides are reducing sugars (還原糖), which are sugars that donate an
electron to the electron recipient in a chemical reaction.
 Examples of monosaccharides include glucose (葡萄糖), fructose (果糖) and
galactose (半乳糖).

(ii) Disaccharides (雙糖)

 Disaccharides are soluble in water and taste sweet.
 Most disaccharides except sucrose are reducing sugars.
 Examples of disaccharides include maltose (麥芽糖), sucrose (蔗糖) and lactose
(乳糖).

Condensation process (縮合過程)*:

 Two monosaccharides combine to form a disaccharide.
 A water molecule is removed.

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Hydrolysis process (水解過程)* (a reverse reaction):

 A water molecule is added during the process.
 The disaccharide is broken down into two monosaccharides.

(*Note: Enzymes (酶) are needed in living organisms to catalyze these reactions.)

(iii) Polysaccharides (多糖)

 Polysaccharides are large molecules formed by condensation of a large number of

monosaccharide molecules.
 They are insoluble or only slightly soluble in water.
 They do not give a sweet taste.
Examples of polysaccharides include glycogen (糖原), starch (澱粉) and cellulose
(纖維素).

starch grains glycogen granules

cellulose

Carbohydrates have the following functions in organisms:

 Starch or glycogen can be broken down into glucose to release energy for cells.
 Starch and glycogen are storage forms of energy in plants and animals respectively.
Cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls.
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Biochemical tests for carbohydrates:

Substance Test Positive result
Glucose using glucose test strips A distinctive colour change is observed.
Reducing sugars Benedict’s test (本立德試驗) A brick-red precipitate is formed.
Starch iodine test Iodine solution changes from brown to
blue-black.

2. Lipids
Lipids are organic substances made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
The ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms is greater than 2:1.
All lipids are insoluble in water, but can dissolve in organic solvents.
There are three important types of lipids:
(i) Triglycerides (甘油三酯) (fats and oils)

Functions:
 Fats and oils act as energy reserves in
organisms.
 Subcutaneous fat (皮下脂肪) acts as an
insulating layer to reduce heat loss.
 Adipose tissues (脂肪組織) around internal
organs act as a shock-absorber.
fat cell

(ii) Cholesterol (膽固醇)

 It is a complex molecule consisting of carbon rings.

 All animals synthesize cholesterol for making membranes, hormones and vitamin D.

(iii) Phospholipids (磷脂)*

3. Proteins
Proteins are diverse organic molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, and
sometimes sulphur (S).
A protein molecule is made up of small basic units called amino acids (氨基酸).
(i) Each amino acid molecule consists of a central carbon atom,
side chain
an amino group (氨基) (–NH2), a carboxyl group (羧基) (–
COOH) and a specific side chain (側鏈) (–R group).
(ii) Each type of amino acid differs in the side chain.
(iii) Dipeptides (二肽) and polypeptides (多肽) are formed
when amino acids join together by condensation. amino group carboxyl group

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(*Note: The concept of phospholipids is covered in Topic 3.)

Organisms use 20 types of amino acids to make proteins.
The varying sequences and lengths of polypeptides affect the final shapes of the protein
molecules.
The functions of proteins:
(i) Components of cytoplasm and cell membrane, thus important for the growth and repair
of body tissues.
(ii) Formation of haemoglobin, enzyme and certain hormones.
(iii) Act as an energy source if carbohydrates and lipids are used up

4. Nucleic acids
Nucleic acids are organic substances made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and
phosphorus.
There are two types of nucleic acids: deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) (脫氧核糖核酸) and
ribonucleic acids (RNA) (核糖核酸).
The basic units of nucleic acids are nucleotides (核苷酸).
Each nucleotide has three components:

phosphate
group
nitrogenous base
(A, T, G or C in DNA; and
A, U, G or C in RNA)
5-carbon sugar
(deoxyribose in DNA; ribose in RNA)

(i) A five-carbon sugar

(ii) A nitrogenous base (含氮鹼基):
 adenine (腺嘌呤) (A)
 thymine (胸腺嘧啶) (T)
 guanine (鳥嘌呤) (G)
 cytosine (胞嘧啶) (C)
 uracil (尿嘧啶) (U)
(iii) A phosphate group

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Composition of dinucleotide and polynucleotide:

dinucleotide (雙核苷酸) polynucleotide (多核苷酸)

Two nucleotides may join to form a dinucleotide.

This process is repeated many times to make a polynucleotide.
Nucleic acids are important in heredity and protein synthesis.
Comparison between DNA and RNA:

DNA RNA
5-carbon sugar deoxyribose (脫氧核糖) ribose (核糖)
Nitrogenous base adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) adenine (A), uracil (U),
or cytosine (C) guanine (G) or cytosine (C)
Structure double helix (雙螺旋) single polynucleotide chain

B. Inorganic substances
1. Water
It is the most abundant substance in organisms.
It is a major component of cells, blood and other body fluids.
Water has the following functions in organisms, as a:
(i) Good solvent, transport medium and the medium in which chemical reactions take place
 Many substances dissolve in water.
 In humans, blood is mainly made up of water.
 Blood carries dissolved nutrients, gases and metabolic wastes to circulate around the
body.
(ii) Reactant in some metabolic reactions
 Water is needed to break down complex food molecules into small molecules.
(iii) Cooling agent
 Sweat consists mainly of water.
 Water regulates body temperature through the evaporation of sweat.
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(iv) Temperature buffer

 Water absorbs a large amount of heat to raise temperature by 1°C.
 As organisms contain a large proportion of water, their body temperature can
become fairly stable when there is a small change in environmental temperature.

(v) Supporting agent and a good lubricant

 It provides a hydrostatic skeleton (水骨骼) for support and movement of some
organisms.
 It provides buoyancy (浮力) for aquatic organisms.
 It makes plant cells turgid (膨脹) and provides support to young seedlings and
non-woody plants.
 It helps reduce friction between bones during movement.

Example
1
Functions of water and minerals

State and explain the function of water in each of the following cases:

(a) During exercise, human body produces a lot of sweat.

(b) Starfish has hydrostatic skeletons.

Solution
(a) Sweat consists mainly of water. When sweat evaporates, it acts as a cooling agent and takes
away some heat from the skin. This helps cool the human body.
(b) The body cavity of starfish is filled with liquid, in which the water provides starfish a hydrostatic
skeleton for support and movement.

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2. Minerals
They mainly occur as inorganic ions (無機離子) dissolved in the cytoplasm and body fluid of the
organisms.
Minerals are needed in small amounts, but are essential to:
(i) allow organisms function normally.
(ii) form body structures in organisms.

Inorganic ion Functions

Nitrate (硝酸鹽) (NO3−)
(an ion containing  To make proteins, nucleic acids and chlorophyll (葉綠素)
nitrogen)
 To make chlorophyll in plants
Magnesium (鎂) (Mg2+)
 As a minor component of bones and teeth
 For muscle contraction and blood clotting (血液凝固)
Calcium (鈣) (Ca2+)
 As a major component of bones, teeth and shells
 To make chlorophyll in plants
Iron (鐵) (Fe2+)  To form haemoglobin (血紅蛋白), a pigment in red blood cells for
carrying oxygen

Example
2
Functions of organic substances

1. What is the storage form of carbohydrates in plants?

2. What are the elements that make up lipids? Write TWO functions of lipids.

Solution
1. Starch
2. Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen
Lipids act as energy reserves / an insulating layer to reduce heat loss / a shock-absorber to
protect internal organs

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Exercise 1
Name: ________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Date: ______________________

1. Write ‘T’ for a true statement and ‘F’ for a false statement.
(a) Water is the most abundant substance in organisms. 
(b) When there is a small temperature change in the environment, the temperature of water
in lakes and oceans is relatively unstable. 
(c) The human body requires a large amount of minerals to function normally. 

2. Choose the correct answer for each question.

(a) Which of the following substances is NOT organic?
A. Water
B. Lipids
C. Proteins
D. Carbohydrates 

(b) Water is vital to aquatic organisms. Which of the following support this statement?
(1) Water is a good solvent.
(2) Water provides buoyancy.
(3) Water provides a hydrostatic skeleton for support and movement.
A. (1) and (2) only
B. (1) and (3) only
C. (2) and (3) only
D. (1), (2) and (3) 

3. Write TWO examples of minerals and state ONE function of each mineral.

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Exercise 2
Name: ________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Date: ______________________

1. Write ‘T’ for a true statement and ‘F’ for a false statement.
(a) Maltose is an example of disaccharide. 
(b) Sucrose can be tested using the Benedict’s test. 
(c) The ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms in lipids is equal to 2:1. 
2. Choose the correct answer for each question.
Penguins live in the South Pole.

(a) Which of the following substances under their furs can protect them from the cold
weather?
A. Carbohydrates
B. Lipids
C. Proteins
D. Nucleic acids 
(b) Which of the following is NOT the function of the substances mentioned in (a)?
A. They act as energy reserves in organisms.
B. They act as an insulating layer to reduce heat loss.
C. They act as an agent to repair body tissues.
D. They act as a shock-absorber around internal organs. 

3. What does an amino acid molecule consist of?

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Integrated Exercise
Name: ________________________ ( ) Class: _________ Date: ______________________

1. Write ‘T’ for a true statement and ‘F’ for a false statement.
(a) Plants use magnesium to make chlorophyll. 
(b) Cholesterol is a complex molecule consisting of carbon rings. 
(c) Amino acids are joined together to form nucleic acids. 
(d) Organisms use 40 types of amino acids to make proteins. 

2. Mary found a seashell on the beach.

What mineral is the shell mainly composed of?

A. Nitrate
B. Magnesium
C. Calcium
D. Iron 

3. Write TWO importance of nucleic acids.

4. Write ONE difference between DNA and RNA.

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Answers
Exercise 1
1. (a) T
(b) F
(c) F
2. (a) A
(b) D
3. Nitrate: It is needed for making proteins, nucleic acids and chlorophyll./
Magnesium: It makes chlorophyll in plants and is a minor component of bones and teeth./
Calcium: It is the major component of bones, teeth and shells and is needed for muscle
contraction and blood clotting./
Iron: It makes chlorophyll in plants and forms haemoglobin, a pigment in red blood cells for
carrying oxygen.
(Any two)

Exercise 2
1. (a) T
(b) F
(c) F
2. (a) B
(b) C
3. It consists of a central carbon atom, an amino group (–NH2), a carboxyl group (–COOH) and a
specific side chain (–R group).

Integrated Exercise
1. (a) T
(b) T
(c) F
(d) F
2. C
3. Nucleic acids are important in heredity and protein synthesis.
4. The 5-carbon ring in DNA is deoxyribose and that in RNA is ribose. /
The nitrogenous base of DNA is adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G) or cytosine (C) and
that in RNA is adenine (A), uracil (U), guanine (G) or cytosine (C). /
The structure of DNA is double helix and that of RNA is a single polynucleotide chain.
(Any two)

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