What are the monomers of nucleic acids?

The monomers of nucleic acids are nucleotides.

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Which 3 components make up a nucleotide?

  1. A pentose sugar
  2. A nitrogenous base
  3. A phosphate group

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Describe how nucleotides join together.

Nucleotides are joined by condensation reactions, which involve the loss of water. This forms phosphodiester bonds between the sugar and phosphate.

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Which sugar and nitrogenous bases do DNA nucleotides contain?

DNA nucleotides contain the sugar deoxyribose.


DNA nucleotides contain the bases:

  1. Adenine (A)
  2. Thymine (T)
  3. Cytosine (C)
  4. Guanine (G)

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What is the difference between a purine and a pyrimidine, and which DNA bases belong to each group?

Purines are larger and have two carbon ring structures, whereas pyrimidines are smaller and only have one carbon ring structure.


A and G are purines. T and C are pyrimidines. 

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Which type of bond forms between complementary base pairs in DNA?

Hydrogen bonds form between complementary base pairs in DNA.

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Which DNA base is complementary to adenine, and how many hydrogen bonds form between them in a molecule of DNA? 

Thymine is complementary to adenine.


2 hydrogen bonds between adenine and thymine in DNA.

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Which DNA base is complementary to cytosine, and how many hydrogen bonds form between them in a molecule of DNA?

Guanine is complementary to cytosine.


3 hydrogen bonds form between cytosine and guanine in DNA.

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Why are DNA strands described as being antiparallel?

DNA strands are described as being antiparallel because each DNA strand runs in opposite directions.

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Which sugar and nitrogenous bases do RNA nucleotides contain?

RNA nucleotides contain the sugar ribose.


RNA nucleotides contain the bases: 

  1. Adenine (A)
  2. Uracil (U)
  3. Cytosine (C)
  4. Guanine (G)

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Which RNA base forms a complementary pair with adenine?

Uracil forms a complementary pair with adenine.

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What is the general structure of an RNA molecule?

RNA is a single-stranded molecule made up of one polynucleotide strand.

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What are the similarities between DNA and RNA?

  1. Both made up of nucleotides
  2. Both contain phosphodiester bonds 
  3. Both contain a pentose sugar, phosphate and nitrogenous bases
  4. Both contain bases C, G, and A

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What are the differences between DNA and RNA?

  1. DNA is longer than RNA
  2. DNA is double-stranded, RNA is single-stranded
  3. DNA contains thymine, RNA contains uracil 
  4. DNA contains deoxyribose, RNA contains ribose

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