You work for a company that manufactures food products. A new "wonder food" contains only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. At this point, your research can say with certainty that the food ______.

Question

a
could only be made of carbohydrates
b
does not include proteins or nucleic acids
c
includes proteins
d
could only be made of triglycerides

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

b does not include proteins or nucleic acids

Reasoning: Proteins are made up of amino acids, which contain nitrogen in addition to carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Nucleic acids (such as DNA and RNA) also contain nitrogen and phosphorus. Since the "wonder food" is said to contain only carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, it cannot include proteins or nucleic acids. Carbohydrates and triglycerides (which are a type of lipid) are still possible since they are composed of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.