This document discusses carbohydrate metabolism and classification. It defines carbohydrates and classifies them into monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides depending on their saccharide units. Monosaccharides have the empirical formula (CH2O)n and include triose, tetrose, pentose, hexose, and heptose. They play important biological roles like in photosynthesis and as fuel. Disaccharides are formed from two monosaccharide units connected by a glycosidic bond, examples include sucrose, maltose, and lactose. Polysaccharides are long chain carbohydrates formed by polymerization of monosaccharide units, classified based on structure like homo- and heteropolys