When a monosaccharide becomes cyclic in form, the anomeric carbon can have its hydroxyl group pointing in the same direction as the methoxy group, or oriented in the opposite direction. This orientation determines whether the sugar is considered alpha or beta.

Carbohydrates are linked together to form disaccharides and other polysaccharides through glycosidic linkages. A glycosidic linkage is one in where two sugar molecules are bridged by an oxygen atom. Peptide linkages are found between amino acids and phosphodiester bonds are found between nucleic acid monomers. Ionic bonds involve the complete transfer of one or more electrons from one species to another. Hydrogen bonds are weak intermolecular and intramolecular forces that contribute to the stability of many substances such as liquid water.

Glycogen and starch molecules are connected by alpha linkages. Glycogen and starch can be digested by humans because we have an enzyme capable of separating these linkages to produce monosaccharides. Cellulose on the other hand is connected through beta linkages. These beta linkages allow for the polysaccharide to form straight chains which can serve structural purposes such as plant cell walls. Cellulose, however, cannot be digested by humans because we do not have enzymes capable of severing these linkages.

DNA strands are composed of millions of nucleotides. As a result, it would be virtually impossible to find a single strand that did not have all four nucleotides.

Nucleotides combine in purine-pyrimidine pairs due to the sterically appropriate fit of the bases, as well as the preferred combination of hydrogen bonds between the two nucleotides. As a result, two purines would not be seen combined. This is due to both being too large when together, and the incorrect hydrigen bonding between their functional groups.

DNA and RNA share very similar structures, with two primary differences: DNA lacks a hydroxide group on the 2' carbon of the ribose sugar and RNA uses uracil in place of thymine.

Both DNA and RNA have phosphate groups attached to the 5' carbon of the sugar, which can be joined to the 3' carbon of an adjacent nucleotide by a phosphodiester bond. As a result, both RNA and DNA are read in the 5'-to-3' direction.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and guanosine triphosphate (GTP) are derived from adenine and guanine, two of the fundamental nitrogenous bases in nucleic acids, making them nucleic acid derivatives.

The correct answer is that RNA nucleotides have two hydroxide groups on the sugar, whereas DNA nucleotides have only one hydroxide group. RNA uses uracil in place of thymine; not DNA. Both DNA and RNA have five-carbon sugars and are bound together along the backbone by phosphodiester bonds. Though base pairing is more common in DNA (double-stranded RNA is less common), both utilize hydrogen bonding.

A nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine, or uracil), a pentose sugar (either ribose or deoxyribose), and three phosphates. These nucleotide monomers can be strung together via phosphodiester linkages to form a polynucleotide. This polynucleotide can base pair with another polynucleotide through hydrogen bonding to form double-stranded DNA.