What term describes a large molecule made up of many monomers?

• A. Polymer
• B. Monomer
• C. Nucleic acid
• D. Amino acid

Answer: (A)

A large molecule made up of many monomers is called a polymer. The idea is that a monomer is a small, repeating unit, and when many of these units link together, they form a much larger molecule. This is how many biological macromolecules are built: nucleic acids like DNA and RNA are polymers of nucleotides, proteins are polymers of amino acids, and polysaccharides like starch are polymers of monosaccharides. The term polymer emphasizes the long chain formed by connecting multiple units. The other terms describe either the individual building block (monomer) or a specific type of polymer (nucleic acid) or a single unit that becomes part of a polymer (amino acid), so they don’t capture the idea of a large molecule made from many units.