California Chemistry Standard

10C. Students know amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.

Amino acids combine together to form proteins as amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The different amino acid combinations depend on the different R groups which are the amino acid's side chain. Several things can affect the amino acids such as the greater the electronegativity means that the bond would be more polar. If there is a higher number of alkyl groups in the side chain or if the side chains have pure hydrocarbon alkyl, then the amino acid would be non-polar.

There are many different amino acids and humans need 10 of the 20 amino acids. When food is digested, the proteins are broken down and then the body uses the amino acids. The body needs certain amino acids that are actually essential such as crysteine, lysine, and tryptophan which can be found in wheat, rice, legumes, and maize. There are also nonessential amino acids that the body actually makes which include aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and glycine.

Here is a list of amino acids.

• The ones that are in orange are hydrophobic and nonpolar.
• The ones in green are hydrophilic and polar.
• The amino acids in pink are acidic.
• The amino acids in light blue are basic.

The amino acids are either hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending if they like or hate water. If the amino acids like water, they will be hydrophilic and if they dislike water, they would be hydrophobic.

Amino acids can also help you by reducing muscle fatigue and give you an energy boost!