A Summery of Organic Chemistry

A condenser: during distillation the vapour passes through a tube that is cooled by water

Fractional distillation: The process used to separate a mixture of several liquids, based on their different boiling points

Aerobic respiration: chemical process in which oxygen is used to make energy from carbohydrates (sugars). Also known as oxidative metabolism, cell respiration, or aerobic metabolism

Anaerobic reparation: form of respiration in which energy is released from chemical reactions in which free oxygen takes no part

Equation for combustion of an alcohol: R-OH (l) + O2 (g) --> CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

Fermentation: In its strictest sense fermentation (scientifically called zymosis) is the energy-yielding anaerobic metabolic breakdown of a nutrient molecule, such as glucose, without net oxidation. Fermentation yields lactate, acetic acid, ethanol, or some other simple product.

Cell membrane: The outer boundary of the cell. The cell membrane helps control what substances enter or exit the cell

Endoplasmic reticulum: network of membranous tubules in the cytoplasm of a cell; involved in the production of phospholipids, proteins, and other functions. Rough ER is studded with ribosomes; smooth ER is not.

Golgi apparatus: An organelle in eukaryotic cells containing cells consisting of stacks of membranes that modify, store, and route products of the endoplasmic reticulum

Ribosomes: Small cellular components composed of specialized ribosomal RNA and protein; site of protein synthesis. See ribonucleic acid

Centriole: Paired cellular organelle which functions in the organization of the mitotic spindle during cell division in eukaryotes

Mitochondria: The mitochondria are the principal energy source of the cell. Mitochondria convert nutrients into energy as well as doing many other specialized tasks

Cytoplasm: the cellular substance outside the nucleus in which the cell's organelles are suspended

Nucleus: the nucleus is an organelle, found in most eukaryotic cells, which contains most of the cell's genetic material. Nuclei have two primary functions: to control chemical reactions within the cytoplasm and to store information needed for cellular division

Vacuoles: A membrane-enclosed sac taking up most of the interior of a mature plant cell and containing a variety of substances important in plant reproduction, growth, and development

Chloroplasts: Disk-like organelles with a double membrane found in eukaryotic plant cells; contain thylakoids and are the site of photosynthesis.