Carbohydrates - carbohydrates are a family of organic molecules made up of carbon, hydrogen, a nd oxygen atoms with general formula (CH2O)x.

- the most common arrangements hound in sugars are hexose(6 sided) or pentose (5 sided) rings. -monosaccarides join together to form compound sugars, releasing water in the pr ocess (condensation). - Compound sugars can be broken down into their constituent monosaccaharides by the opposite reaction(hydrolysis). - sugars provide energy, and are major component of most plants and are used by humans as a cheap food source, and a source of fuel, housing, and clothing. - monosaccharides are used as a primary energy source for fueling cell metabolis m. - they are single sugar molecules include glucose, fructose. - disacchrides are double-sugar molecules and are used as energy souks and as bu ilding blocks for larger molecules. -ploysaccharides: cellulose: is a structural material in plants and is made up of unbranched chain s of beta-glucose molecules held together by 1,4 glycosidic links. starch: it is made up of long chains of a-glucose molecules linked together. it contains a mixture of 25-30% of amylose and 70-75% amylopectin. sta rch is an every storage molecule in plants and is found concentrated in insolubl e starch granules within plant cells. starch can be easily hydrolyzed by enzymes to soluble sugars when required. Glycogen: is a branched polysaccharide. more highly branched and water-soluble t han starch. glycogen is a storage compound in animal tissues and is found mainly in liver and muscle cells. it is readily hydrolyzed by enzymes to form glucose. Chitin: is a tough modified polysaccharide made up of chains of beta-glucose mol ecules. it is chemically similar to cellulose but each glucose has an amine grou p attached. after cellulose, chitin is the second most abundant carbohydrate. it is found in the cel walls of fungi and is the main component of the exoskeleton of insects and other arthropods. - isomerism: compounds with the same chemical formula may differ in the arrangem ent of their atoms. such variations in the arrangement of atones in molecules ar e called isomers. in structural isomers, the atoms are linked in different seque nces. optical isomers are identical in every way but are mirror images of each o ther. Questions: 1) Distinguish between structural and optical isomers in carbohydrates, describi ng examples of each: in structural isomers, the atoms are linked in different se quences. for example starch is made up of alpha-glucose and cellulose is made up of beta-glucose and their hydroxyl group is opposite to each other. in optical isomer, atoms are identical in every way but are mirror images of each other. ex ?? 2) explain how the isomeric structure of a carbohydrate may affect its chemical behavior: 3) explain briefly how compound sugars are formed and broken down: two monosaccharides can combined to form compound sugars in condensation reactio n. during this reaction the water is released and formed glycosidic bond. the co mpound sugars can be broken down by hydrolysis and during this reaction, the wat er is combined.