Questions: Rank the following base pairs according to their stability. Rank from most to least stable. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

Solution Steps

Examine the base pairs shown in the image. The base pairs are:

1. Guanine (G) - Cytosine (C)
2. Adenine (A) - Thymine (T)
3. Guanine (G) - Cytosine (C)

Understand that the stability of base pairs is determined by the number of hydrogen bonds:

• G-C pairs have 3 hydrogen bonds.
• A-T pairs have 2 hydrogen bonds.

Rank the base pairs from most stable to least stable based on the number of hydrogen bonds:

1. G-C (3 hydrogen bonds)
2. G-C (3 hydrogen bonds)
3. A-T (2 hydrogen bonds)

Final Answer