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Quizzes > Science

All biomolecules traits except: find the odd one out

Quick chemistry quiz on traits all biomolecules share. Instant feedback and explanations.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Erik Armand IversenUpdated Aug 23, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustration for biochemistry quiz with molecular structures on dark blue background

This quiz helps you spot the all biomolecules traits except option and see why it breaks the pattern. You will answer quick questions on structure, function, and common elements. For a quick refresh, review three elements all macromolecules share, try a macromolecules and polymers quiz, or practice with mcqs in molecular biology.

Which of the following elements is not a common component of biomolecules?
Carbon
Helium
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Biomolecules are primarily composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Helium is an inert noble gas and does not participate in the chemistry of living systems. Therefore, it is not found as a component of common biomolecules.
Which of these functional groups is not found in all four major classes of biomolecules?
Amino
Hydroxyl
Carboxyl
Sulfhydryl
The sulfhydryl ( - SH) group is primarily found in certain amino acids like cysteine and is characteristic of some proteins. Hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amino groups are widespread in carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. Hence, sulfhydryl is not common to all four major biomolecule classes.
Which biomolecule class does not form true polymers?
Nucleic acids
Proteins
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Lipids are a diverse group of hydrophobic molecules that are not formed by repeating monomeric units, unlike carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids which are true polymers. Lipids include fats, oils, and steroids, assembled from smaller molecules but not linked in long chains.
All major biomolecules except which are generally soluble in water?
Carbohydrates
Nucleic acids
Proteins
Lipids
Lipids are predominantly hydrophobic due to long hydrocarbon chains and are not soluble in water without specialized transport. Carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids all have polar groups that interact favorably with water.
Which property is not shared by all major biomolecules?
Ability to form polymers
Contain oxygen atoms
Presence of a carbon backbone
Capability to form hydrogen bonds
While carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids are polymers of repeating monomers, lipids are not true polymers and consist of varied structures. All biomolecules do contain carbon, can participate in hydrogen bonding, and include oxygen atoms.
Which biomolecule class typically lacks nitrogen in its structure?
Proteins
Nucleic acids
Amino acids
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and generally do not contain nitrogen. In contrast, proteins and nucleic acids have nitrogen as part of amino and nucleotide structures, and amino acids by definition contain nitrogen.
Which of the following bonds is not found in proteins?
Hydrogen bond
Glycosidic bond
Peptide bond
Disulfide bond
Proteins have peptide bonds linking amino acids, and disulfide and hydrogen bonds contribute to tertiary structure. Glycosidic bonds are characteristic of carbohydrate linkages, not proteins.
Which structural feature is absent in monomeric sugars?
Multiple chiral centers
Carbonyl group
Nitrogenous base
Hydroxyl group
Monosaccharides like glucose have multiple hydroxyl groups, at least one carbonyl, and can be chiral. They do not contain nitrogenous bases, which are found in nucleotides.
Which biomolecule does not store genetic information?
RNA
Viruses
Proteins
DNA
DNA and RNA store genetic information in sequence of bases. Some viruses use RNA or DNA genomes. Proteins serve functional and structural roles but do not encode genetic information.
Which biomolecule class is primarily composed of long hydrocarbon chains?
Nucleic acids
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Lipids
Lipids are characterized by long hydrocarbon chains (fatty acids) that confer hydrophobic properties. Carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids do not have such extended nonpolar chains.
Which of the following is not a common monomer for biomolecules?
Amino acid
Monosaccharide
Glycerol
Nucleotide
Amino acids, monosaccharides, and nucleotides are monomers of proteins, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids respectively. Glycerol serves as a backbone in lipids but is not a repeating monomer in a polymer.
Which of these properties is not common to both proteins and nucleic acids?
Contain covalent backbone linkages
Synthesized by ribosomes
Sequence of monomers determines function
Subject to denaturation
Proteins are synthesized by ribosomes in the cell; nucleic acids are polymerized by polymerase enzymes. Both have sequences that determine their function, can denature under stress, and have covalent backbones.
Which class of biomolecules typically does not exhibit optical isomerism in its monomers?
Nucleic acids
Amino acids
Lipids
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates, amino acids, and nucleotides often have chiral centers, leading to optical isomers. Lipid molecules like fatty acids generally lack chiral centers and thus do not exhibit optical isomerism.
Which functional group is exclusively found in nucleic acids and not in proteins, lipids, or carbohydrates?
Amino group
Phosphate group
Carbonyl group
Hydroxyl group
Phosphate groups form the backbone linkages in DNA and RNA via phosphodiester bonds, and are not present in proteins, lipids, or standard carbohydrates. The other groups are widespread in multiple biomolecule classes.
Which of the following carbohydrates is not a polymer of sugars?
Cellulose
Glycogen
Glycine
Chitin
Glycogen, cellulose, and chitin are polysaccharides made of repeating sugar units. Glycine is an amino acid and not a sugar polymer.
Which technique would not be used to determine the tertiary structure of a protein?
NMR spectroscopy
Mass spectrometry
X-ray crystallography
Cryo-electron microscopy
Mass spectrometry provides mass data and sequence information but does not directly reveal 3D tertiary structures. X-ray crystallography, NMR, and cryo-EM are standard methods for structural determination.
Which of the following lipids does not contain fatty acids?
Phospholipid
Wax
Steroid
Triglyceride
Steroids have a four-ring ring structure and do not include fatty acid chains. Triglycerides, phospholipids, and waxes are all composed of fatty acid esters.
Which sugar is not a monosaccharide?
Lactose
Ribose
Glucose
Fructose
Lactose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and galactose. Glucose, fructose, and ribose are all monosaccharides.
Which base is not a purine?
Adenine
Hypoxanthine
Cytosine
Guanine
Adenine, guanine, and hypoxanthine are purine derivatives with a two-ring structure. Cytosine is a pyrimidine with a single-ring structure.
Which of these amino acids lacks a chiral center?
Glycine
Valine
Threonine
Alanine
Glycine has two hydrogen atoms on its alpha carbon, making it achiral. Alanine, valine, and threonine have four different substituents on the alpha carbon and thus are chiral.
Which statement is not true for enzymes?
They are specific for substrates
They increase reaction rate
They are consumed in the reaction
They lower activation energy
Enzymes lower activation energy, speed up reactions, and are substrate-specific. They are catalysts and are not consumed in the reactions they catalyze.
Which vitamin is not a lipid-soluble vitamin?
Vitamin E
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are lipid-soluble and stored in fatty tissues. Vitamin C is water-soluble and not stored in significant amounts in lipid compartments.
Which of the following carbohydrates is not a reducing sugar?
Fructose
Sucrose
Glucose
Maltose
Reducing sugars have a free anomeric carbon able to open to an aldehyde. Sucrose links glucose and fructose in a way that both anomeric carbons are involved, so it cannot act as a reducing sugar.
Which of the following lipids does not contribute to membrane fluidity?
Sphingomyelin
Cholesterol
Unsaturated fatty acids
Triacylglycerol
Triacylglycerols serve as energy storage molecules and are not structural components of membranes. Unsaturated fatty acids and cholesterol modulate membrane fluidity, while sphingomyelin affects membrane rigidity.
Which nucleotide is not found in DNA?
Adenine
Cytosine
Thymine
Uracil
DNA uses adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. Uracil replaces thymine in RNA and is not a component of DNA.
Which amino acid is solely ketogenic and not glucogenic?
Leucine
Methionine
Valine
Isoleucine
Leucine is degraded exclusively to acetyl-CoA and acetoacetate (ketogenic products), whereas isoleucine, valine, and methionine yield intermediates that can be used for gluconeogenesis (glucogenic).
Which term does not apply to unsaturated fatty acids?
Tetrahedral geometry around double bond carbon
Lower melting point compared to saturated fats
Cis/trans configurations
Contain double bonds
Carbons involved in a double bond exhibit trigonal planar geometry, not tetrahedral. The other descriptions are accurate for unsaturated fatty acids.
Which polysaccharide is not digestible by humans?
Glycogen
Starch
Maltodextrin
Cellulose
Humans lack the enzyme cellulase required to hydrolyze ?-1,4-glycosidic bonds in cellulose. Starch, glycogen, and maltodextrin contain ?-glycosidic linkages that human enzymes can digest.
Which enzyme is not involved in fatty acid ?-oxidation?
Thiolase
Fatty acid synthase
Enoyl-CoA hydratase
Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase
Fatty acid synthase catalyzes the synthesis of fatty acids, not their degradation. Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, enoyl-CoA hydratase, and thiolase are enzymes in the ?-oxidation pathway.
Which of these does not contribute to the enzymatic active site environment?
Prosthetic groups
Coenzymes
Amino acid side chains
Lipid bilayers
Active sites are formed by amino acid residues and may include prosthetic groups or coenzymes. Lipid bilayers are membrane structures and do not directly form part of an enzyme's catalytic site.
Which amino acid is not considered essential in the human diet?
Lysine
Valine
Methionine
Proline
Proline is a non-essential amino acid that humans can synthesize. Lysine, methionine, and valine are essential and must be obtained from the diet.
Which of the following is not a chiral sugar?
Fructose
Dihydroxyacetone
Ribose
Glucose
Dihydroxyacetone has two identical CH2OH groups and no chiral center. Glucose, ribose, and fructose each contain at least one chiral carbon.
Which of these is not considered a hallmark of metabolic control by biomolecules?
Protonation of double bonds
Feedback inhibition
Covalent modification
Allosteric regulation
Metabolic control typically involves allosteric regulation, covalent modification (e.g., phosphorylation), and feedback inhibition. Protonation of double bonds is not a recognized regulatory mechanism.
Which pyrimidine base modification is not typically found in tRNA molecules?
Pseudouridine
5-methylcytosine
6-methyladenine
Dihydrouridine
tRNA contains modified bases like pseudouridine, dihydrouridine, and 5-methylcytosine. 6-methyladenine is primarily a DNA modification in prokaryotes and not a standard tRNA modification.
Which property is not shared by ribozymes and protein enzymes?
Sensitivity to temperature
Requirement of amino acid side chains for catalysis
Catalytic activity
Ability to lower activation energy
Both ribozymes and protein enzymes catalyze biochemical reactions, lower activation energy, and are sensitive to temperature and pH. However, ribozymes rely on RNA functional groups, not amino acid side chains.
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Study Outcomes

  1. Understand Biomolecular Traits -

    Grasp the common properties all biomolecules share and recognize why these traits are essential for living systems.

  2. Identify the Exception -

    Pinpoint which specific biomolecule does not exhibit the typical characteristics explored in this quiz.

  3. Analyze Molecular Structures -

    Examine and compare the structural features of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids to reinforce your molecular structures trivia knowledge.

  4. Differentiate Energy Roles -

    Evaluate how each class of biomolecule contributes to energy storage and transfer in biochemical reactions.

  5. Apply Biochemistry Basics -

    Use core concepts from biochemistry basics questions to solve quiz challenges related to the properties of living systems quiz.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Polymer vs. Non-polymer Structures -

    Most biomolecules like proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids are true polymers built from repeating monomer units (amino acids, monosaccharides, nucleotides), but lipids break this rule. When tackling the quiz question "all biomolecules have the following traits except," recall that lipids lack a uniform polymeric backbone. A handy mnemonic is "Lipids Log Out of Polymer Clubs."

  2. Elemental Composition: CHONPS -

    Four major biomolecule classes share carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, while proteins and nucleic acids also include nitrogen and phosphate (CHONPS). Spotting which molecule deviates in element ratio helps in molecular structures trivia. Consider "C.H.O.N. and P.S.!" to remember the six essential elements.

  3. Energy in Biochemical Reactions -

    Understanding ΔG = ΔH - TΔS is key to energy in biochemical reactions quiz questions, where exergonic reactions release energy (negative ΔG) and endergonic consume it. ATP, the universal energy currency, couples these processes; hydrolysis of ATP → ADP + Pi releases about - 30.5 kJ/mol. This formula often appears in biochemistry basics questions.

  4. Functional Groups and Bonding -

    Functional groups (hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, phosphate) define reactivity and solubility in biochemical reactions and molecular structures trivia. For example, ester bonds link fatty acids in lipids, peptide bonds connect amino acids in proteins, and phosphodiester bonds join nucleotides in nucleic acids. Drawing each group on paper boosts visual retention.

  5. Properties of Living Systems -

    Biomolecules contribute to growth, regulation, and homeostasis - properties of living systems quiz essentials. Carbohydrates store energy, lipids form barriers, proteins act as enzymes, and nucleic acids encode information. Remember "GREN," or Growth, Regulation, Energy, and Nucleic information.

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