~Cells make a huge number of large molecules from a small set of small molecules~
( I'm still going to fail that religion test.)
Most of the large molecules in living things are macromolecules called polymers
Polymers are long chains of smaller molecular units called monomers (building blocks)
A huge number of different polymers can be made from a small number of monomers
SIZE: monomer<polymer<macromolecule
4 types of macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, & nucleic acids
(poly ~ many ; mono ~ one)
~Making and Breaking of Polymers~
Cells link monomers to form polymers by dehydration synthesis (building up)
Polymers are broken down to monomers by the reverse process, hydrolysis
(hydro ~ add water; lysis ~ to split)
