Chemistry of Life

Introduction to Biology
 Chemical Foundations of
Biology
• Biology is a multidisciplinary science
• Living organisms are subject to basic laws of physics and
chemistry

• One example is the bombardier beetle, which

uses an exothermic chemical reaction to defend
itself against predators.
 Bombardier Beetle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5Ch9EV0bc
 Chemistry in Biology
• Organisms are
composed of matter
• Matter is anything that
takes up space and
has mass
• Matter is made up of
elements.
 Elements and
Compounds
• An element is a substance that cannot be broken
down to other substances by chemical reactions
• A compound is a substance consisting of two or
more elements that have chemically combined.
o Compounds may have entirely different properties
than the elements they are made of.
• Compounds are different than mixtures, which are
made of compounds or elements that are not
chemically combined.
LE 2-2

Sodium Chlorine Sodium chloride

 Essential Elements of Life
• About 25 of the 92 elements are essential to life.
• Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen make up
96% of living matter.
• Most of the remaining 4% consists of calcium,
phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur
• Trace elements are those required by an organism in
minute quantities
LE 2-3

Nitrogen deficiency Iodine deficiency

 Atoms
• Atoms are incredibly small.
• 100 million atoms laid side-
by-side would only make a
row one centimeter long.
• About the width of your
little finger!
• Atoms are made of
subatomic particles that
are even smaller.
• Protons
• Neutrons
• Electrons
 Atoms
• Protons and neutrons have
about the same mass.
• Protons are positively
charged particles (+) that
determine the atom’s
identity.
• Neutrons are particles that
carry no charge and
determine the atom’s
mass.
• Incredibly strong forces
bind protons and neutrons
together to form the
nucleus.
 Atoms
• Electrons are negatively
charged particles (–) with
only 1/1840 the mass of a
proton.
• Electrons are in constant
motion in the space
surrounding the nucleus.
• Electrons determine how
reactive an atom will be
with other atoms.
 Atoms
• Neutral atoms have equal
numbers of protons and
electrons.
• The positive and negative
charges cancel each
other out, leaving no net
charge across the atom.
• The carbon atom shown to
the right is a neutral atom
with 6 protons and 6
electrons.
 Drawing Atoms
• Atoms are typically drawn
in two ways.
• The more accurate
representation involves
drawing an electron cloud.
• This is considered more
accurate because
electrons move too
quickly to pinpoint them
at any specific location
in the atom.
 Drawing Atoms
• The most commonly used
way to draw atoms is to
show electrons orbiting the
nucleus in a circular path.
• This method makes it easier
to see the electrons and
how they interact with
other atoms during
chemical reactions.
 Atomic Number and
Atomic Mass
• Atoms of the various elements differ in number of
protons, neutrons, and electrons.
o An element’s atomic number is the number of protons
o An element’s mass number is the sum of protons plus neutrons
in the nucleus
 Ions
• Atoms that have gained or lost an electron are no
longer neutral, they have a charge.
o They are now called ions.
• Common ions of the human body:
o Na+ (sodium), found in tears, sweat, blood
o K+ (potassium), found in nerve cells, blood
o Ca+ (calcium), found in blood, nerve cells, muscle cells, bone
o Cl- (chloride), found in blood and stomach acid
 Isotopes
• Atoms of an element have the same number of
protons but may differ in number of neutrons
• Isotopes are two atoms of an element that differ in
number of neutrons
• Most isotopes are stable, but some are radioactive,
giving off particles and energy
• Isotopes have many applications in biology.
 Carbon-14 Dating
• The most common and stable isotope of carbon
is Carbon-12, but it also exists as carbon-13 and
14.
• Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope. Radioactive
substances are unstable and break down over
time.
• The half-life of an isotope is the amount of time it
takes for half of a sample to decay.
• All living things contain some carbon-12 and
some carbon-14 in their cells.
• The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years. This
value can be used to determine the
approximate age of a fossil.
 Carbon Dating Example
• An archeologist discovers a piece of pottery.
• Inside that pottery are seeds. Chemical analysis
reveals the seeds only have about 12% of the
original carbon-14 remaining. How old is the
pottery?
Application of Carbon-14
Dating: Shroud of Turin
 Shroud of Turin
Carbon-14 Dating Study
• A small sample was cut from the shroud and divided into
three pieces.
o Each piece was given to a different lab.
• Three older ancient cloth samples were also sampled
and included.
o None of the samples were labeled, to prevent bias.
• Results:
o Date range of shroud is 1262-1385 A.D.
o Inconclusive? The shroud had been in a fire and parts
were burned and repaired -- sample may have been
taken from a repaired area
 Radioactive Tracer
Isotopes
• Radioactive isotopes can be
added to cells. The cells will
incorporate these isotopes into
their DNA and proteins.
• One experiment took these cells
and incubated them at nine
different temperatures to see if
DNA had an optimal range of
temperature to duplicate.
LE 2-5c

RESULTS

Optimum
Counts per minute

30 temperature
for DNA
(x 1,000)

synthesis
20

10

0
10 20 30 40 50
Temperature (°C)
 Radioactive Tracer
Isotopes
• Tracer isotopes can also be used to identify tumors,
which contain cells that divide their DNA much faster
than usual.
 Chemical Bonds
• Elements can combine to form compounds.
• The elements are held together by chemical
bonds.
o A covalent bond is the sharing of a pair of valence
electrons by two atoms.
o An ionic bond occurs when one atom takes
another atom’s electrons.
LE 2-10
Hydrogen atoms (2 H)

Covalent bond between two

hydrogen atoms to
form hydrogen gas

Hydrogen
molecule (H2)
Energy In Chemical Bonds
• Energy is the capacity to cause change.
• Every chemical bond has an amount of potential
energy that can be released.
• Potential energy is the energy that matter has
because of its location or structure
• Example of location: Top of Rollercoaster
• Example of structure: A molecule of fat
 Types of Covalent Bonds
• A single bond, is the sharing of one pair of valence
electrons.
• A double bond, is the sharing of two pairs of valence
electrons.
• A triple bond, is the sharing of three pairs of valence
electrons.
How to Display Covalent
Bonds
Covalent Bonds Example:
Oxygen Gas (O2)
Name Electron- Structural Space-
(molecular shell formula filling
formula) diagram model

Oxygen (O2)
Covalent Bonds Example:
Water (H2O)
Name Electron- Structural Space-
(molecular shell formula filling
formula) diagram model

Water (H2O)
Covalent Bonds Example:
Methane (CH4)
Name Electron- Structural Space-
(molecular shell formula filling
formula) diagram model

Methane (CH4)
 Ionic Bonds
• Some atoms can take electrons away from other
atoms.
o For example, an electron transfers from sodium to chlorine.
o After the transfer, both atoms have charges.
o A charged atom (or molecule) is called an ion

Na Cl Na+ Cl–
Sodium atom Chlorine atom Sodium ion Chlorine ion
(an uncharged (an uncharged (a cation) (an anion)
atom) atom)
Sodium chloride (NaCl)
 Ionic Bonds
• Ions with opposite charges will attract each other.
• The attraction formed is called an ionic bond.
• Compounds formed by ionic bonds are called ionic
compounds, or salts
• Salts, such as sodium chloride (table salt), are often
found in nature as crystals

Na Cl Na+ Cl–
LE 2-14

A single crystal of table

salt (NaCl) shown
microscopically.

Na+
Cl–
 Polarity
• Water is considered a
polar molecule.
o It has a positive and negative
end.
• The oxygen end of the
water molecule has a slight
negative charge.
• The hydrogen end of the
water molecule has a slight
positive charge.
 Hydrogen Bonds
• Polar covalent
compounds, like water,
can form hydrogen bonds.
• A hydrogen bond occurs
when two compounds that
contain charged areas
attract each other.
• All of water’s unusual
properties are due to
hydrogen bonding.
 Water Properties
• Cohesion is the
attraction between
molecules of water.
o Causes water to form
beads or droplets.
o Creates the effect of
surface tension.
 Water Properties
• Adhesion is the attraction of water to the molecules
of the container or tube it is in.
o Helps plants transport water up their stems.

Water-conducting cells
 Water Properties
• Water has a very high heat capacity
• A large amount of heat energy is required to raise
the temperature of water.
o Lake Michigan daytime surface water temperature in
summer: 68-76°F
o Chicago area average daytime air temperature in July:
84°F
 Water Properties
• Water is known as the universal solvent.
o Because water is polar, it can dissolve many different
solutes.
• Salts, sugars, etc.
o When something is dissolved completely in water, it is
called a solution.
 Acids, Bases, and pH
• A few (1 in 550 million) water molecules
spontaneously split into ions.
o Pure water has equal amounts of H+ and OH- ions. This is
considered neutral.
o Acids have higher amounts of H+ ions.
o Bases have higher amounts of OH- ions.
 The pH scale
• Solutions with a pH level below 7 are acidic.
• Solutions with a pH level above 7 are basic.
• Solutions with a pH level of 7 are neutral.
 Human body pH levels
• Blood requires a pH of 6.8-7.0 to maintain homeostasis.
• Sweat has a pH between 4.0-6.8 (defense against
bacteria)
• Saliva pH is normally around 6.0 (digestion)
 Buffers
• Blood and other body fluids contain buffers, which
can “absorb” increases on H+ (acid) or OH- (base)
ions.
o This prevents sudden changes in body pH, which would be deadly.
 Chemical Bonds - Van der
Waals Interactions
• Molecules or atoms
that are very close
together can have
very weak magnetic
attractions.
• These weak attractions
are called Van der
Waals interactions
• Collectively, such
interactions can be
strong.
o Example: The ability of
Geckos to climb vertical
surfaces.
Van der Waals
Interactions
 Chemical Bond Strength
• Covalent bonds are usually the strongest in an
organism.
• Ionic bonds and hydrogen bonds are weaker.
• Van der Waals forces are the weakest bonds.
• The atoms and molecules found within living
organisms will have combinations of all four of
these chemical bonds.
• The specific combination of bonds in a molecule
gives it a specific shape.
 Molecular Shape and
Function
• The function of a molecule of a living organism is
completely dependent on its shape.
• Biological molecules recognize and interact with
each other with a specificity based on their
molecular shapes.
• Molecules with similar shapes can have similar
biological effects
o Endorphins are chemicals produced by the brain that
produce a sense of euphoria.
o Morphine is a drug that can have similar effects.
 Carbon Nitrogen
Hydrogen Sulfur
Natural
endorphin Oxygen

Morphine

Structures of endorphin and morphine