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LESSON 11.1 – POLYMERS

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Today’s Learning Targets

  • LT 9.5 – I can identify the subunits of proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids and explain why carbon is central to all of their structures.
  • LT 9.6 – I can discuss how the bonding characteristics of carbons have allowed for humans to burn fossil fuels in order to produce energy.

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Why is carbon in all living matter?

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I. Our Friend Carbon

  • Carbon likes to bond with a lot of atoms.
  • This is due to its 4 valence electrons
  • Because of this ability to bond, carbon is essential in all living matter.

C

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I. Our Friend Carbon

  • Because of carbon’s unique bonding characteristics, this allows it to form repeating structures.
  • Large biological molecules are just repeating structures of smaller carbon units.

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What are polymers?

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Polymers

  • A polymer is a large molecules that is made up of small repeating subunits that are known as monomers.
  • A polymer is formed by linking together these small monomers.
  • Central in many of these is carbon

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