CHEE 370 Chapter : Biotech.notes.docx
7 May 2012
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Document Summary
Diversity lies in the variation of chemistry and arrangement cellular components. Major components in living things: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. The molecule consists of two and more atoms chemically bonded to each other. They are strong bonds formed between chemical elements in which electrons are shared more or less equally between atoms. Single, double and triple covalent bonds can form. Covalently bonded polymers in living cells are called macromolecules. Hydrogen bonds: they form as a result of weak electro-static interactions between hydrogen atoms and more electronegative atoms such as nitrogen and oxygen. Because the other atoms will be more electronegative than the hydrogen, this will create a shift in the shared electrons closer to that atom, creating a slight charge separation. An individual hydrogen bond by itself is very weak but many hydrogen bonds together will achieve stability. Water is polar and its molecules tend to associate with one another and remain apart from nonpolar (hydrophobic) molecules.
