In baking, for example, flour and sugar are frequently measured in cups. A measuring cup is a physical container meant to hold 8 ounces. It is usually clear, and smaller units of measurement are marked on the outside using markers, including 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup.
Combinations of these atoms form the sugar-phosphate backbone of the DNA -- the sides of the ladder, in other words. Other combinations of the atoms form the four bases: thymine (T), adenine (A), cytosine (C), and guanine (G).These bases are the rungs of the DNA ladder.(It takes two bases to form a rung -- one for each side of the ladder.). A sugar molecule, a base, and a phosphate molecule group together to make up a nucleotide. Nucleotides are abundant in the cell's nucleus.Nucleotides are the units which, when linked sugar to phosphate, make up one side of a DNA ladder.hese bases are the rungs of the DNA ladder. (It takes two bases to form a rung -- one for each side of the ladder.). A sugar molecule, a base, and a phosphate molecule group together to make up a nucleotide. Nucleotides are abundant in the cell's nucleus.
The two sides of the DNA ladder are held together loosely by hydrogen bonds (see the small dots down the middle of the double helix). The DNA can actually unzip when it needs to replicate-or make a copy of itself. DNA needs to copy itself when a cell divides, so that the new cells each contain a copy of the DNA.he sides of the ladder are made of alternating sugar and phosphate molecules. The sugar is deoxyribose. The rungs of the ladder are pairs of 4 types of nitrogen bases.Two of the bases are purines-adenine and guanine. The pyrimidines are thymine and cytosine.