How many molecules of water are needed to completely hydrolyze a polymer that is 11 monomers long?
The correct answer and explanation is:
To hydrolyze a polymer that is 11 monomers long, 10 molecules of water are required.
Explanation:
When a polymer undergoes hydrolysis, each monomer is cleaved from the polymer chain through the addition of a water molecule. Hydrolysis involves breaking the bond between the monomers by inserting a water molecule. The bond between two adjacent monomers is usually a covalent bond, specifically an ester or peptide bond, depending on the type of polymer.
In the case of a polymer that is 11 monomers long, there are 10 bonds between the monomers. Each bond requires one water molecule to break it. As each water molecule is used to break one bond, it will split the polymer into smaller monomers.
For example, in a polymer of 11 monomers:
- Hydrolyzing the first bond requires 1 water molecule.
- Hydrolyzing the second bond requires another water molecule, and so on.
By the time the 10th bond is broken, the polymer chain will have been completely hydrolyzed into its individual monomers, with 10 water molecules having been consumed in the process.
Therefore, for an 11-monomer polymer, 10 molecules of water are needed to break all the covalent bonds and completely hydrolyze the polymer.
This process is important in biological systems, where enzymes (like amylase or protease) facilitate the hydrolysis of complex carbohydrates and proteins into their monomeric forms (sugars or amino acids) to aid in digestion.