system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5 why is it called 'Nucleic ACID' when one of its components is a Nitrogenous BASE?
gpt
The acidity comes from the phosphate groups used in forming DNA and RNA molecules. These phosphate groups are quite similar to phosphoric acid. The only difference there is the replacement of two of the protons from the phosphoric acid with protons from the sugar molecules of the nucleotide. This leaves only one remaining proton, which is very acidic. That easily-lost proton is what causes nucleic acids to be so acidic.