MW Miller Plus Five Starch Cellulose and Starch [with Starch Structure and Function] (p. 30)

Explain why cellulose has such a high tensile strength.

Cellulose that has microfibris that is orientated parallel to the length of the fire (O degrees) provide the greatest fiber strength (above right).

Explain the purposes of cellulose and starch in the plant cell.

Starch is the storage form of glucose (energy) in plants, while cellulose is a structural component of the plant cell wall. http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/chemorg/ch/ch16g.html

Describe the structure of the cellulose molecule and compare it to starch.

The cellulose molecule is equivalent to the definition of structure itself. it is Glucose is the unit of both starch and cellulose. this makes glucose a monomer and starch n cellulose polymers. the only difference between cellulose and starch is the type of linkage between glucose molecules. its called alpha1,4 in starch and beta 1,4 for cellulose (its stereochemistry: alpha means the OH at position 1 is below the plane of the glucose molecule. while beta is above) n btw.. the human body can digest starch but not cellulose cuz we dont have the enzyme that breaks down the beta linkage. animals like rabbits do have..

Explain why wood has such a high strength to weight ratio.

Wood (secondary xylem) is constructed from millions of cells giving a lattice like structure. This makes it very strong but relatively low in weight.