If a cell combined 5 lactose molecules and 15 glucose molecules to make glycogen using dehydration synthesis, how many molecules of water would be generated?

Question

If a cell combined 5 lactose molecules and 15 glucose molecules to make glycogen using dehydration synthesis, how many molecules of water would be generated?

a,24

 

 b. 25

 

 c. 19

 

 d. 20

 

Answer 1

Hi, Klaudia - Do you have any idea how to approach this problem? You would be linking the individual sugars together to make a larger molecule, right? Do you know what the linkages are called? Glycosidic linkages.

How are these linkages accomplished? The question says there is a dehydration, which involves the elimination of a water molecule when the linkage is made. So the "real" question is then how many of these do we make?

If you are linking together 5 lactose and 15 glucose, that's 20 molecules getting connected, right? How many linkages is that?