what is the smallest carbohydrate called
Carbohydrates are usually composed solely of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, although some also contain nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorus. Glucose, a common monosaccharide. Carbohydrates are classified according to size. The smallest carbohydrates are called monosaccharides (mono means one; saccharide means sugar).As the name implies, these are single sugar molecules. The most common monosaccharides, such as fructose and glucose, have six carbon atoms, but monosaccharides can have as few as three or as many as seven.ligosaccharides (oligo means few) are more complex carbohydrates composed of chains of two or a few (up to about twenty) simple sugars joined with a type of covalent bond called a glycosidic bond. The longer oligosaccharides may be linear or branched.