Question

What is the difference between ribose and deoxyribose?

Short answer

The main difference between ribose and deoxyribose is that ribose has one more oxygen atom than deoxyribose. Ribose is found in RNA and has a chemical formula of \(C_5H_{10}O_5\), while deoxyribose is found in DNA and has a chemical formula of \(C_5H_{10}O_4\).

Step-by-step solution

Understand Ribose

Ribose is a pentose sugar, meaning it consists of five carbon atoms. Its chemical formula is \(C_5H_{10}O_5\). Ribose is commonly found in RNA (Ribonucleic acid), a molecule responsible for decoding, regulating and expressing genes.

Understand Deoxyribose

Deoxyribose, similarly to ribose, is a pentose sugar and has five carbon atoms. Its chemical formula is \(C_5H_{10}O_4\), which shows it has one less oxygen atom than ribose. Deoxyribose is found in DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), a molecule crucial for the storage of genetic information.

Highlight the Main Difference

The major difference between ribose and deoxyribose is that ribose has one more oxygen atom than deoxyribose. In ribose, all the carbon atoms are bonded with one hydroxyl group (\(OH\)), whereas, in deoxyribose, one of the carbon atoms (the 2' carbon) is bonded with a hydrogen atom instead of a hydroxyl group, hence the 'deoxy' in deoxyribose.