Claire Smerdon's Science Blog

          In unit two, we dipped into the necessary chemistry biologists needed to know, helping us understand our main focus: macromolecules. Beginning with chemistry, we studied matter, more specifically atoms. An atom is the basic unit of matter with subatomic particles. Those are the protons, neutrons, and electrons.            The four macromolecules we learned about were carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acid, and proteins. Made of sugar and saccharides, carbohydrates are a source of energy. They're ring shaped and divided into monosaccharides (one ring), disaccharides (two rings) and polysaccharides (three or more rings). Lipids are made up of large molecules, containing oils, fats, phospholipids, waxes, and cholesterol. Known as fatty acids, lipids' structures are long chains of carbon and hydrogen.            Lipids are made up of large molecules, containing oils, fats, phospholipids, waxes, and cholesterol. Lipids make up cell membranes, make hormones, and is used as e

In our lab regarding the sweetness of different types of sugars, we set out on finding the type of carbohydrate (monosaccharide, disaccharide and polysaccharide) that is the sweetest. We found monosaccharides, the sugars glucose and fructose, are the sweetest. Fructose was the sweetest, then sucrose, and then glucose.  Because fructose is so sweet, it's produced commerically and added into many foods. Glucose is a disaccharide, meaning it has two rings or two monosaccharides. It's made up of two monosaccarides, frutose and glucose, which both scored high on the sweetness scale. Monosaccharides have one ring, a hexagon or pentagon shape consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Polysaccharides have three or more rings. monosaccaride The amount of rings a carbohydrate may affect how organisms/ cells use them. Both are used as an energy source for h umans. However, monosaccarides and dissacharides may be short-term, while polysaccharides are used long-term.

In the jean lab, we set out to answer what concentration of bleach is best to fade the color out of new denim material in 10 minutes without visible damage to the fabric. Our hypothesis was if bleach breaks down pigments, then the denim will lose its color. We found that the 'best' concentration is dependent on what you're looking for and value. The 100% bleach had the most drastic results with an average of 9 in color removal. In the end, the pigment was more yellow than white. The fabric square was stiffer and the ends were frayed. (The ends were frayed because we cut it. Normally, when bleaching jeans, the hem wouldn't get frayed). This led it to have a fabric damage of 1 1/3. I would consider this one the 'best' because though the fabric turned yellow and is most likely not favorable, it took the color out of the denim. From reliable online sources, you can find data that supports our findings. This also proved our hypothesis because the bleach broke down th