Monosaccharides have what general formula?

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Multiple Choice

Monosaccharides have what general formula?

Explanation:
Monosaccharides are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in roughly a 1:2:1 ratio, and they can be thought of as built from repeating CH2O units. If you join n of those units, the general formula becomes (CH2O)n. This captures all sizes of monosaccharides: for example, glucose has six carbon atoms, giving C6H12O6, which fits the pattern with n = 6, while other sugars have different n values. The fixed form with a specific number of carbons (like CH2O or (CH2O)6) doesn’t describe all monosaccharides, only particular examples. Hence the general formula is (CH2O)n.

Monosaccharides are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in roughly a 1:2:1 ratio, and they can be thought of as built from repeating CH2O units. If you join n of those units, the general formula becomes (CH2O)n. This captures all sizes of monosaccharides: for example, glucose has six carbon atoms, giving C6H12O6, which fits the pattern with n = 6, while other sugars have different n values. The fixed form with a specific number of carbons (like CH2O or (CH2O)6) doesn’t describe all monosaccharides, only particular examples. Hence the general formula is (CH2O)n.

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