Final answer:
Glucose and galactose are aldoses and isomeric monosaccharides with the same chemical formula, but differ in the atomic arrangement, particularly at the fourth carbon's hydroxyl group. Together, they form lactose with a glycosidic bond.
Step-by-step explanation:
The structural relationship between glucose and galactose is that they are both isomeric monosaccharides, which means they are hexoses with the same chemical formula,
, but they have a different arrangement of atoms. Specifically, glucose and galactose are both aldoses, but the position of the hydroxyl (OH) group on the fourth carbon is different.
In the formation of disaccharides, glucose and galactose combine to form lactose through a glycosidic bond. Moreover, in their cyclic forms, both glucose and galactose generally adopt a six-member ring structure, with a notable distinction being the location of an OH group.