Is xylose a pentose or a hexose?
I've read the following and I still don't know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylose
It is a pentose
To determine whether xylose is a pentose or a hexose, we need to understand the basic structure of these sugars. Pentoses and hexoses are types of monosaccharides, which are the simplest form of carbohydrates.
Pentoses are monosaccharides with five carbon atoms, while hexoses have six carbon atoms. The prefix "penta-" refers to five, and "hexa-" refers to six.
Now let's find out the structure of xylose.
Xylose is a monosaccharide with the molecular formula C5H10O5. The formula tells us that xylose contains 5 carbon atoms. Since xylose has only 5 carbon atoms, it falls under the category of pentose.
So, xylose is a pentose.