Exercises: Carbohydrates

What is a monosaccharide? Give two examples and state the main function of monosaccharides in the cell.

Classify the following carbohydrates as monosaccharides, disaccharides, or polysaccharides: glucose, sucrose, starch, fructose, lactose, and cellulose.

State the biological function of glycogen in animals and in which organs it is mainly stored.

The diagram shows how the chains of two polysaccharides made exclusively of glucose are arranged. State which corresponds to starch and which to cellulose, explain what difference exists in the bonding of their monomers (α or β bond), and reason how the shape of their chains justifies why one serves as an energy reserve and the other has a structural function.

Sucrose is formed by the joining of a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule. What type of bond is formed between the two monosaccharides, what is the reaction that forms it called, and what molecule is released during it?