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Carbohydrates are substances with the general formula Cx(H2O)y, where x and y are variable numbers; their name carbohydrates (hydrates of carbon) comes from the fact that hydrogen and oxygen are present in the same amounts as in water.
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pCARBOHYDRATES0 Carbohydrates are substances with the general formula Cx(H2O)y, where x and y are variable numbers; their name carbohydrates (hydrates of carbon) comes from the fact that hydrogen and oxygen are present in the same amounts as in water. Carbohydrates are divided into three main classes: Monosaccharides, Di-Saccharides and Polysaccharides. Monosaccharides * Monosaccharides are single sugar units. * Their general formula is (CH2O)n (where n is between 3-9). * They are classified according to the number of carbon atoms as trioses (3C), tetroses (4C), pentoses (5C), hexoses (6C) and heptoses (7C). Of these, pentoses and hexoses are the most common. * Monosaccharides are important as energy sources and as building blocks for larger molecules, they are suitable for this because they are chemically reactive molecules and show a wide variety of structures, including the variation in the number of carbon atoms. Aldoses and Ketoses * In Monosaccharides, all the carbon atoms except one...
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