PRELIMINARY STAGE 2013
Opoku Ware SHS
Aburi Girls SHS
Afia Kobi Ampem
ROUND 5 - RIDDLE
RIDDLE
I am one of the polymers that occur in nature.
Chemically, I am a condensation polymer.
I am a major source of energy to some large families in the animal kingdom.
My monomers are joined through glycosidic bonds.
ANSWER: Cellulose
EXPLANATION:
Cellulose is a natural condensation polymer of glucose, structurally important in plant cell walls and digestible by some herbivores via symbiotic microbes.
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. RIDDLE:
I am a natural polymer.
I am made of glucose units.
Plants store energy as me.
Iodine turns me blue-black.
Amylose and amylopectin make me up.
Potatoes and cassava are rich in me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: STARCH
EXPLANATION:
Starch is the storage polysaccharide of plants.
2. RIDDLE:
I am a natural condensation polymer.
My monomers are amino acids.
My monomers are joined by peptide bonds.
Biuret reagent turns me purple.
Enzymes are made of me.
Meat, fish and beans are rich in me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: PROTEIN
EXPLANATION:
Proteins are polyamides of amino acids.
3. RIDDLE:
I am an addition polymer made by trees.
My monomer is isoprene.
I am elastic and waterproof.
Heating me with sulfur hardens me.
I am tapped as latex from Hevea trees.
Tyres were first made from me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: NATURAL RUBBER
EXPLANATION:
Natural rubber is poly(isoprene); vulcanisation cross-links it with sulfur.
4. RIDDLE:
I am a natural polymer of glucose.
I make up plant cell walls.
Humans cannot digest me.
Cotton is almost pure me.
Paper is made from me.
I provide dietary fibre.
Who am I?
ANSWER: CELLULOSE
EXPLANATION:
Cellulose is a straight-chain polymer of glucose.
5. RIDDLE:
I am a natural polymer of glucose.
Animals store energy as me.
I am stored in the liver and muscles.
I am more branched than amylopectin.
I am sometimes called animal starch.
Insulin helps to turn blood glucose into me.
Who am I?
ANSWER: GLYCOGEN
EXPLANATION:
Glycogen is the energy store of animals.
6. RIDDLE:
I am a natural polymer.
I form the hard outer skeletons of insects and crabs.
I make up the cell walls of fungi.
My monomer is an amino sugar.
I contain nitrogen.
I am the second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose.
Who am I?
ANSWER: CHITIN
EXPLANATION:
Chitin is a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine.