2c Biological Molecules

Topic 2c
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2c – Biological molecules
Objectives
2.7 Identify the chemical elements present in carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats
and oils).
2.8 Describe the structure of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids as large molecules
made up from smaller basic units: starch and glycogen from simple sugars, protein
from amino acids, and lipid from fatty acids and glycerol.
2.9 Practical: investigate food samples for the presence of glucose, starch, protein and
fat.
2.10 Understand the role of enzymes as biological catalysts in metabolic reactions.
2.11 Understand how temperature changes can affect enzyme function, including
changes to the shape of active site.
2.12 Practical: investigate how enzyme activity can be affected by changes in
temperature.
2.13 Understand how enzyme function can be affected by changes in pH altering the
active site.
2.14B Practical: investigate how enzyme activity can be affected by changes in pH.
2
What are biological molecules?
• Biological molecules are the building blocks to make cells and other key structures
required to make living organisms.
• As a human you get these molecules in your diet through eating.
• They give you the ability to make more cells and grow, provide energy for your
processes and keep you healthy.
• The most important three types of molecule you need are:
Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins

3
What are biological molecules
• The chemical elements required to make these molecules are as follows.
Carbon Carbon Carbon
Hydrogen Hydrogen Hydrogen
Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen
Nitrogen
4
Carbohydrates
• Molecules made up of carbon (carbo) hydrogen (hydr) and oxygen (ate).
• Used by the body for respiration to release energy.
• We get most of our carbohydrate in the form of starch from foods like
potato, rice and pasta.
• Starch is a large storage carbohydrate molecule made by plants. Animals
store their carbohydrate as glycogen.

5
Carbohydrates
• These large carbohydrate
Starch molecule
molecules are insoluble (don’t
dissolve in water).
• Therefore large carbohydrates
like starch need to be broken
down by enzymes in digestion
in order to release the simple
sugars we need for respiration
such as glucose.
Broken down into simple sugars
(Glucose) 6
Lipids
• Fats and oils.
• Also made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
• Food high in animal fats include: Meat, butter, cheese, milk,
eggs and oily fish.
• Plant oils include: Olive oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and
margarine.
• Fat is used to make cell membranes, insulation, protection of
organs and as an energy store.

7
Lipids
• They are made out of two types of molecule.
• Glycerol and fatty acids.
• One glycerol is joined to three fatty acids.
• Too much fat can lead to heart disease, especially saturated

fats and cholesterol.
8
Proteins
• All cells contain protein.

• We need it for growth and repair of tissues.
• Animal foods high in protein include: Meat, fish,
cheese and eggs.
• Generally plants contain less protein but beans, peas
and nuts are richer than others.

9
2.4.U6 The amino acid sequence determines the three-dimensional conformation of a protein.
2.4.U5 A protein may consist of a single polypeptide or more than one polypeptide linked together.
There are four levels of protein structure. Which level a protein conforms to is
determined by it’s amino acid sequence.
(Polypeptide) • The chains of amino acids fold or • The polypeptide folds and • The interaction
• The order / sequence of the turn upon themselves coils to form a complex between multiple
amino acids of which the protein • Held together by hydrogen bonds 3D shape polypeptides or
is composed between (non-adjacent) amine • Caused by interactions prosthetic groups
• Formed by covalent peptide (N-H) and carboxylic (C-O) groups between R groups (H- • A prosthetic group
bonds between adjacent amino • H-bonds provide a level of bonds, disulphide is an inorganic
acids structural stability bridges, ionic bonds and compound
• Controls all subsequent levels of • Fibrous proteins hydrophilic / hydrophobic involved in a
structure interactions) protein (e.g. the
• Tertiary structure may be heme group in
important for the haemoglobin)
function (e.g. specificity • Fibrous and
n.b. although you don’t need to be able to outline the of active site in enzymes) Globular proteins
• Globular proteins
different levels of structure for knowing of them helps to
understand the difference between globular and fibrous
proteins. This is though required knowledge for AHL
(7.3.U7 to 7.3.U10)
Proteins
• Proteins are a large molecule made up of amino acids.
• There are 20 different amino acids that can be used to make
up different proteins.
• These chains are then folded up or twisted to make the
protein have a 3D shape.
1 protein made from 12 amino acids

11
What are biological molecules

Made up of simple Made up of fatty acids Made up of amino
sugars e.g. glucose and glycerol acids

12
PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests
• There are various chemical tests that you can do to

detect which nutrients are present in a sample of
food.
• We will look at how to test a food for the
carbohydrates starch and glucose.
• And how to test for protein and fat (lipids).

13
PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests - Starch
• Put a small sample of each food into the well of a

spotting tile.
• Add a few drops of Iodine indicator solution.
• If the food goes blue/black then it contains starch.

14
PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests - Glucose
• Take a sample of the food to test an put it

in a boiling tube.
• Add Benedict’s solution.
• Heat the boiling tube in a water bath at
80oC for 5 minutes.
• If it contains glucose it will change colour.
• It goes from blue to green to orange and
finally brick red depending on the
amount of glucose.
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PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests - Glucose
No glucose High level of glucose

16
PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests - Protein
• To test for protein you take the

sample, to be tested and place it in a
test tube.
• You then add Biuret solution.
• Buiret solution starts off as blue and
will turn to lilac/purple if protein is
present.

Cyberchemist - https://www.flickr.com/photos/37388341@N00/1495908200 17
PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests – lipids (fats)
• To test for lipids you carry out the
emulsion test.
• The food sample is placed in a test
tube and a small volume of ethanol is
added.
• The test tube is shaken and the fat
dissolves into the ethanol.
• An equal volume of water is added.
• If a cloudy emulsion forms this
indicates the presence of fats.
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PRACTICAL
Chemical food tests - Summary
Molecul Test solution Initial Positive result

e colour
Starch Iodine Yellow/bro Blue/black
wn
Glucose Benedicts Blue Green ➔Orange ➔ Brick
Red
Protein Biurets Blue Purple/lilac
Lipid Ethanol then Transparent Cloudy emulsion
Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham water 19
Enzymes
• As mentioned earlier. In order to break down

large molecules into smaller ones you need
things called enzymes.
• Enzymes are proteins made by cells.
• They are not only involved in breaking
molecules down but they play a part in every
chemical reaction in our body.
By Thomas Shafee - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45801894 20
Enzymes
• All chemical reactions that happen in a cell are

controlled by enzymes.
• Enzymes are biological catalysts.
• This means they speed up the reaction and do
not get used up in the reaction.
• They are all proteins which are coded for by
genes.
• The function of enzymes is to catalyse
metabolic reactions.
By Thomas Shafee - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45801894 21
Enzymes
• Our body temperature is 37oC

• This is quite a low temperature for reactions to
take place.
• Without enzymes the reactions in our bodies
would occur too slowly to support our body’s
needs.

22
Enzymes
• Each enzyme has an active site.
• The molecule that it wants to help change is called the
substrate.
• The active site fits the substrate like a lock and a key.
Active site Substrate

23
Enzymes
1 Substrate enters active site 2 An enzyme-substrate complex forms
4 3
Reaction occurs
Products form and leave active site 24
Enzymes
• There are various factors affecting how well

enzymes work.
• We will look at:
1. Temperature
2. pH

25
PRACTICAL
Enzymes – Investigating the effect of temperature
• Amylase is a good enzyme to investigate.

• It is used in digestion to breakdown the starch
you eat into sugar.
• You can test for starch using iodine.
• If there is starch present the solution will
change colour from the initial brown/yellow
colour to blue/black.
26
PRACTICAL

27
PRACTICAL

28
PRACTICAL
• Choose five temperatures to investigate in the range of 10oC

to 80oC.
• Repeat the same procedure for each temperature making
sure that all other variables are kept constant between each
experiment.
• For a control experiment you could use boiled amylase
instead of normal amylase.
• To make the experiment more reliable repeat each
temperature 3 - 5 times and take the average time.
• Plot the results as a graph of temperature on the x-axis
against time on the y-axis.
29
Enzymes – Effect of temperature
• As you heat molecules up they move

faster as they have more kinetic energy.
• Therefore with higher temperature the
enzymes work faster.
Rate of reaction
• Each enzyme has an optimum
temperature at which it works best.
• Above this temperature though the heat
causes the the shape of the enzyme’s
active site is change permanently as
bonds get b broken. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
• The enzyme becomes DENATURED and Temperature (oC)
stops working.
30
Enzymes – Effect of pH
• The optimum pH for most

enzymes is pH 7.
• Although enzymes in the stomach
like pepsin can work at pH 2.
Rate of reaction
• Outside of the optimum pH the
acid or alkali interferes with the
bonds holding the active site
together.
• The active site becomes
5 6 7 8 9
pH
denatured and the enzyme can no
longer bind to the substrate. 31
PAPER 2
PAPER 2 2c – Biological molecules
PRACTICAL
Enzymes – Investigating the effect of pH
• You can investigate the effect of pH on an

enzyme by using buffer solutions.
• Buffer solutions can be prepared for
maintaining different values of pH.
pH2 pH4 pH7 pH10 pH12

32
PAPER 2
PRACTICAL
• Cells produce a waste product called hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2).
• It is toxic and so must not be allowed to build up in a
cell.
• Cells therefore contain an enzyme called catalase
which can break down hydrogen peroxide into water
and oxygen which are harmless.
2H2O2 2H2O + O2

33
PAPER 2
PRACTICAL
• We can investigate the effect of pH on the rate of

breakdown of hydrogen peroxide by catalase.
• You can get plenty of catalase from potato cells.
They just need to be blended with water and then
filtered to make a potato extract full of all the
catalase from the cells.
• We can then add this to various pH buffers and
hydrogen peroxide and measure the bubble of
oxygen produced per minute from the reaction.
34
PAPER 2
PRACTICAL
2H2O2 2H2O + O2
• Potato catalase extract

• pH buffer (2,4,7,10,12)
• 5% Hydrogen peroxide
Oxygen bubbles

35
PAPER 2
PRACTICAL
Variable Description In this practical

Independent What you pH
investigate
Dependent What you measure Rate of enzyme controlled
reaction – bubbles of O2 in
1st minute
•
Control
pH buffer (2,4,7,10,12)
What must stay Vol of extract, vol and
• 5% Hydrogen peroxide the same concentration of H2O2
Oxygen bubbles

36
PAPER 2
PRACTICAL
How reliable are your results? How accurate are your results?
The more repeats you do the more How close are the results to the true
reliable the results become. value? Are there errors in your method
that could be improved. E.g. bubbles not
all the same size so could collect volume
instead.

• pH buffer (2,4,7,10,12)
• 5% Hydrogen peroxide
Oxygen bubbles

37
2c-Biological molecules
CONCEPT CHECK – True or false
1. Glucose and starch are carbohydrates.

2. The Benedicts test is used for testing for protein.
3. Proteins are made up from amino acids.
4. Fats are made of glycerol and two fatty acids.
5. A positive test for starch turns iodine brown/yellow.
6. Proteins are made from the following elements C,H,O,N.
7. Enzymes bind to substrates using their active site.
8. If an enzyme gets too hot it dies.
9. Enzymes get used up in reactions.
10. pH can alter the shape of the active site.
38
CONCEPT CHECK – True or false
1. Glucose and starch are carbohydrates.

2. The Benedicts test is used for testing for protein.
3. Proteins are made up from amino acids.
4. Fats are made of glycerol and two fatty acids.
5. A positive test for starch turns iodine brown/yellow.
6. Proteins are made from the following elements C,H,O,N.
7. Enzymes bind to substrates using their active site.
8. If an enzyme gets too hot it dies.
9. Enzymes get used up in reactions.
10. pH can alter the shape of the active site.
39
CONCEPT CHECK – Exam style question
Q: Fill in the gaps in this paragraph about enzymes below.

(5 marks)
Enzymes are known as biological . . . . . . . . . . . . They bind to

substrate molecules using their . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . like a lock
and a key. They can be affected by changes in
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . If the changes are extreme they
can cause the enzyme’s shape to permanently changed. When this
happens we say it has been . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40
CONCEPT CHECK – Exam style question
Q: Fill in the gaps in this paragraph about enzymes below.

(5 marks)
Enzymes are known as biological . . . .catalysts . . . . . . . . They bind to

substrate molecules using their . . . .active . . . . . . . . .site
. . . . . like a lock
and a key. They can be affected by changes in
. . . temperature
. . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . .pH
. . . . . . If the changes are extreme they
can cause the enzyme’s shape to permanently changed. When this
happens we say it has been . . . . . . . . . . . .denatured ..

41

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Topic 2c

Icons CC – The Pink Group

Copyright © 2017 Henry Exham

Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• The chemical elements required to make these molecules are as follows.

Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins

Carbon Carbon Carbon

Hydrogen Hydrogen Hydrogen

Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Too much fat can lead to heart disease, especially saturated

• All cells contain protein.

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

1 protein made from 12 amino acids

Carbohydrates Lipids Proteins

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• There are various chemical tests that you can do to

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Put a small sample of each food into the well of a

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Take a sample of the food to test an put it

No glucose High level of glucose

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• To test for protein you take the

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Molecul Test solution Initial Positive result

• As mentioned earlier. In order to break down

• All chemical reactions that happen in a cell are

• Our body temperature is 37oC

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• There are various factors affecting how well

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Amylase is a good enzyme to investigate.

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Choose five temperatures to investigate in the range of 10oC

• As you heat molecules up they move

• The optimum pH for most

• You can investigate the effect of pH on an

pH2 pH4 pH7 pH10 pH12

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• We can investigate the effect of pH on the rate of

• Potato catalase extract

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Variable Description In this practical

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

• Potato catalase extract

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

1. Glucose and starch are carbohydrates.

1. Glucose and starch are carbohydrates.

Q: Fill in the gaps in this paragraph about enzymes below.

Enzymes are known as biological . . . . . . . . . . . . They bind to

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham

Q: Fill in the gaps in this paragraph about enzymes below.

Enzymes are known as biological . . . .catalysts . . . . . . . . They bind to

Copyright © 2018 Henry Exham