How can you tell what type of macromolecule something is based on its formula?

How do you tell what type of macromolecule something is (carbohydrate, lipid, protein) given the molecular and structural formulas?
What functional groups should the monomers of carbohydrates and proteins have?

I feel like these questions are easy to answer, and I'd be able to answer them myself, if my teacher ever bothered to actually teach us -_-"
Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

JoshDaniel2011-10-05T16:18:06Z

Favorite Answer

If is has many carbons and hydrogens, and a few oxygens, then it is a lipid. If it has the ratio of C:H:O as 1:2:1, is is a carbohydrate. If it has any nitrogen and/or sulfur, then it is a protein.

Carbohydrate monomers have many hydroxyl groups (OH), while those of proteins have amine groups (NH2) and carboxyl (COOH)

Hope I could help :)

10

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