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A Maple Program That Illustrates the Effect of pH on Peptide Charge

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Charles W. Sokolik

Denison University, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Granville, OH 43023

J. Chem. Educ., 1998, 75 (11), p 1500

DOI: 10.1021/ed075p1500

Publication Date (Web): November 1, 1998

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

One topic covered early in an introductory biochemistry course is acid-base chemistry and the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation (buffer equation). Using this equation a biochemistry student can determine the partial charges of amino acids in a peptide chain. This is an important concept to master for a student who is learning the structure-function relationship in proteins. The program described in this paper, written for Maple V, release 3 (Waterloo Maple Software, Waterloo, ON, Canada), uses the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation to calculate the partial charges of individual amino acids and the net charge of a peptide over the pH range 0 to 14. The amino acid sequence of a peptide is entered and an animated histogram is displayed illustrating the partial charge of the amino acids over the pH range. A graph showing the net charge of the peptide from pH 0 to 14 is also given. The program has been used with success in an introductory biochemistry course as an in-class demonstration as well as for individual homework assignments. The program is available through the Web page of the Journal of Chemical Education.

Keywords (Audience):

Upper-Division Undergraduate

Keywords (Domain):

Biochemistry

Keywords (Feature):

Computer Bulletin Board

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Computer-Based Learning

Keywords (Subject):

Acids / Bases

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This article has been cited by 2 ACS Journal articles (2 most recent appear below).

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