Brooklyn College
City University of New York

Science at a Distance

topic

Biological Energy

This Bio-Module requires the use of the text book "Exploring Life" by Professor John Blamire.

The Words of Science

glucose

The most common form of simple sugar, a 6-carbon monosaccharide; a common source of chemical energy in plants and animals.
From the Greek word glykys, meaning sweet.

The name for this substance comes from its taste. Many early chemists placed a tiny drop of any new chemical on their tongue as part of their analysis. (DO NOT try this yourself, many of them died for their research efforts!). Unfortunately these early analysts were wrong. Glucose is a monosaccharide that has no sweetening properties. The disaccharide we put in food and drink to sweeten it is sucrose.

Words of Science