Desribe the structure of amino acids including what makes amino acids different from each other

1) Amino acid contains a central carbon atom attached to: an anime group, carboxyl group, hydrogen atom and a side chain

2) The side chain of each amino acid differentiates from one another

Please find the description below

Explanation:

Amino acids are monomeric chemical compounds that forms the make up of a protein. Amino acids , like every other chemical compound, have a structure. Amino acids have two functional groups i.e. amine group (-NH2) and carboxylic acid group (-COOH).

All amino acids, which are naturally 20 in number have basic parts in common namely: 1) a central carbon atom, also called the alpha carbon 2) a hydrogen atom 3) an amine group i.e. (-NH2) 4) a carboxyll group i.e. (-COOH)

These are the basic parts of all amino acids, however, the difference between the amino acids is found in the series of different atoms called Side chains or R group that attach to the alpha carbon. These R group makes each amino acid specific and different. For example, a side chain containing sulphur (CH3-S-(CH2)2) is the R group of methionine. Each amino acid has a different side chain attached to the basic structure listed above.