Final answer:
The question deals with the biological processes of dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis, how monomers form polymers, and how polymers are broken back down into monomers. Dehydration synthesis involves the removal of water to create covalent bonds between monomers, while hydrolysis uses water to break these bonds.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject of this question is related to how monomers form polymers and the processes involved in their formation and breakdown. Specifically, two processes are described: dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis.
In dehydration synthesis, monomers are joined together by covalent bonds to form polymers. This process involves the removal of a water molecule, consisting of a hydroxyl group (OH) and a hydrogen atom (H), from the monomers that are being connected. For every pair of monomers joined, one molecule of water (H₂O) is removed, leading to the net formula C₆H₁₂O₆ multiplied by the number of monomers minus the number of water molecules, which is one less than the number of monomers.
Conversely, hydrolysis is the process by which polymers are broken down into monomers. During hydrolysis, a water molecule is inserted into the compound, breaking the covalent bonds and splitting the polymer into individual monomers. Each monomer gains a part of the water molecule - one part gains a hydrogen atom, the other gains a hydroxyl group. Therefore, hydrolysis is essentially the reverse of dehydration synthesis.