Compare and Contrast Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins

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PARDEEP JASSAL

Compare and Contrast Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins

The main organic molecules are carbohydrates, proteins and lipids.  Carbohydrate, Protein and Lipid molecules all contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.  Proteins contain nitrogen and sometimes sulphur while Carbohydrates and Lipids don’t.  Plants make carbohydrate molecules by photosynthesis but Proteins and Lipids are made from the modification of Carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins are all made of simpler molecules.  These molecules are joined together by condensation reactions which link substances together but also produce water.  

Carbohydrates can be divided into three sections according to size which are monosaccharide, disaccharide and polysaccharides, Proteins can be divided into two groups which are globular and fibrous proteins whereas Carbohydrates are split into three groups.  Lipids are similar to Proteins because there are two different types which are triglycerides and phospholipids.  

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Examples of Carbohydrates are starch, glycogen and cellulose and all these are polymers.  Proteins are also polymers but Lipids are not.  Polymers are long chain like molecules made from simpler units called monomers.  

A Monosaccharide could be glucose in the forms of alpha and beta.  Fructose and Galactose are also examples of Monosaccharides.  Examples of Disaccharides are Maltose, Sucrose and Lactose.  The three main types of polysaccharides are cellulose, glycogen and starch.  

In Carbohydrates the different forms affect the properties of the polymers that contain them just as the different kinds of functions of proteins ...

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