Free Classification of Biological Molecules MCQs with Answers

154 Classification of Biological Molecules MCQs from Biology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

Biological molecules are classified as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, with water, minerals and vitamins also supporting cellular processes. The key distinctions involve their monomers, chemical bonds, structures and functions, including glucose and starch, fatty acids and triglycerides, amino acids and polypeptides, and nucleotides in DNA and RNA.

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154 questions · page 2 of 8

Hard
  • A. form waterproof coatings on leaves, fruits and exoskeletons
  • B. store more energy per gram than any other molecule
  • C. build the phospholipid bilayer of membranes
  • D. act as receptors for hormones

Explanation: Waxes are highly hydrophobic, so the cuticle on leaves and the wax layer on insect exoskeletons prevent water loss and resist wetting.

Correct answer: form waterproof coatings on leaves, fruits and exoskeletons
Hard
  • A. are attracted to water molecules
  • B. carry a strong negative charge
  • C. are non polar and are excluded from the surrounding water
  • D. are forced inwards by membrane proteins

Explanation: The hydrophobic tails avoid water while the polar phosphate heads face it, so the bilayer assembles itself with tails inside.

Correct answer: are non polar and are excluded from the surrounding water
Very hard
  • A. Triglyceride
  • B. Steroid
  • C. Phospholipid
  • D. Wax

Explanation: Steroids such as cholesterol and testosterone are built from four fused carbon rings and contain no fatty acid chains.

Correct answer: Steroid
Moderate
  • A. cytoplasm
  • B. ribosome itself
  • C. Golgi apparatus
  • D. nucleolus

Explanation: The nucleolus transcribes rRNA and assembles it with proteins into ribosomal subunits, which then leave through nuclear pores.

Correct answer: nucleolus
  • A. messenger RNA
  • B. transfer RNA
  • C. ribosomal RNA
  • D. DNA

Explanation: Each tRNA carries a three-base anticodon loop that base pairs with the complementary codon on mRNA, ensuring the correct amino acid is…

Correct answer: transfer RNA
Fairly easy
  • A. ribose and uracil
  • B. deoxyribose and thymine
  • C. ribose and thymine
  • D. deoxyribose and uracil

Explanation: RNA has the sugar ribose and uses uracil in place of thymine, pairing uracil with adenine.

Correct answer: ribose and uracil
Hard
  • A. Amylose
  • B. Palmitic acid
  • C. Glycogen
  • D. Glycolipid

Explanation: A conjugated molecule combines two different classes of biomolecule, here a carbohydrate with a lipid.

Correct answer: Glycolipid
Moderate
  • A. substrate
  • B. apoenzyme
  • C. prosthetic group
  • D. peptide

Explanation: A prosthetic group, such as the haem of haemoglobin, is a non protein part fixed tightly to the protein.

Correct answer: prosthetic group
  • A. energy storage for the cell
  • B. cell recognition and signalling
  • C. transport of oxygen
  • D. replication of DNA

Explanation: The carbohydrate chains of glycolipids and glycoproteins act as identification markers, which is why blood group antigens sit on the red…

Correct answer: cell recognition and signalling
Hard
  • A. the sugars bond only to purines
  • B. phosphate groups pair with pyrimidines
  • C. hydrogen bonds form only between bases of equal size
  • D. each base pair contains one purine and one pyrimidine

Explanation: Adenine and guanine are the purines, thymine and cytosine the pyrimidines, and every pair across the helix matches one of each.

Correct answer: each base pair contains one purine and one pyrimidine
Fairly easy
  • A. alternating bases and phosphate groups
  • B. bases only, stacked one above another
  • C. alternating deoxyribose sugars and phosphate groups
  • D. alternating sugars and bases

Explanation: Phosphodiester bonds link the sugar of one nucleotide to the phosphate of the next, making a repeating sugar phosphate rail with the bases…

Correct answer: alternating deoxyribose sugars and phosphate groups
  • A. contains one old strand and one newly synthesised strand
  • B. is built entirely from new nucleotides
  • C. conserves only half of its original bases
  • D. is rebuilt only in every second cell cycle

Explanation: When the two parental strands separate, each serves as a template for a new partner, so both daughter helices retain one original strand.

Correct answer: contains one old strand and one newly synthesised strand
Fairly easy
  • A. adenine equals guanine and cytosine equals thymine
  • B. the amount of adenine is always greater than that of thymine
  • C. the amount of adenine equals thymine and guanine equals cytosine
  • D. purines are always more numerous than pyrimidines

Explanation: Because A pairs with T and G pairs with C across the helix, their amounts must match in any double stranded DNA.

Correct answer: the amount of adenine equals thymine and guanine equals cytosine
  • A. Soil Science
  • B. Agronomy
  • C. Metrology
  • D. Ecology

Explanation: Agronomy is the applied science of crop production, including the management of soil, crops and their productivity.

Correct answer: Agronomy
  • A. Genetics
  • B. Taxonomy
  • C. Archeology
  • D. Paleontology

Explanation: Taxonomy is the branch of biology concerned with identifying, naming and classifying organisms.

Correct answer: Taxonomy
  • A. 16 Bio-elements
  • B. 12 Bio-elements
  • C. 10 Bio-elements
  • D. 6 Bio-elements

Explanation: About 99% of the human body's mass is contributed by six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.

Correct answer: 6 Bio-elements
  • A. Photosynthetic
  • B. Chemosynthetic
  • C. Completely parasitic
  • D. Absorptive heterotrophs

Explanation: Fungi are absorptive heterotrophs: they secrete digestive enzymes onto food outside the body and absorb the soluble products.

Correct answer: Absorptive heterotrophs
  • A. fucoxanthin
  • B. phycocyanin
  • C. phycoerythrin
  • D. bilirubin

Explanation: Red algae contain the red phycobilin pigment phycoerythrin, which absorbs green and blue light and helps them photosynthesise at greater…

Correct answer: phycoerythrin
  • A. carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur
  • B. carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen
  • C. carbon, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorus
  • D. carbon, sulfur, hydrogen, magnesium

Explanation: Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the four most abundant elements in living cells because they form carbohydrates, lipids…

Correct answer: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen
  • A. Polysaccharide
  • B. Protein
  • C. Hemoglobin
  • D. ATP

Explanation: ATP is a relatively small molecule made from adenine, ribose, and three phosphate groups, and it transfers energy directly in cells.

Correct answer: ATP