Which term describes a very large organic molecule made up of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus?

Which term describes a very large organic molecule made up of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus?

• A. Nucleic Acid
• B. Protein
• C. Carbohydrate
• D. Lipid

Answer: (A)

Nucleic acids are the large organic molecules that fit this description best. They’re polymers made from nucleotide units, and each nucleotide contains a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The phosphate groups link the sugars of adjacent nucleotides, creating a sugar–phosphate backbone that makes the molecule long and very stable. That presence of phosphorus in the backbone is a defining feature of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA, which is why this term is the right match. Proteins are built from amino acids and contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and often sulfur; carbohydrates are mainly carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; lipids are mostly carbon and hydrogen (with some oxygen) and, while some lipids can have phosphorus in phospholipids, they aren’t described as the large, repeating-polymer molecules that nucleic acids are. So the term that best describes a very large organic molecule containing carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus is nucleic acid.

Nucleic acids are the large organic molecules that fit this description best. They’re polymers made from nucleotide units, and each nucleotide contains a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. The phosphate groups link the sugars of adjacent nucleotides, creating a sugar–phosphate backbone that makes the molecule long and very stable. That presence of phosphorus in the backbone is a defining feature of nucleic acids like DNA and RNA, which is why this term is the right match.

Proteins are built from amino acids and contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and often sulfur; carbohydrates are mainly carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; lipids are mostly carbon and hydrogen (with some oxygen) and, while some lipids can have phosphorus in phospholipids, they aren’t described as the large, repeating-polymer molecules that nucleic acids are. So the term that best describes a very large organic molecule containing carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and phosphorus is nucleic acid.