text: what are carbohydrates? a detailed discription with concept and examples please. details?? for details a good references is given by one before me.  concept:  hydrates of carbon are carbohydrates. this is why the ration of h & o is always 2:1 general formula of carbohydrates is cnh2non where n is a natural number.  there are different carbohydrates. the basic unit of carbohydrate is known as sacride. one sacride unit may contain 3, 4, 5 or 6 carbon atoms. so for 6 c atoms the formula will be c6h12o6.  these sacride unites in pure form are known as monosacrides. glucose is one example.  some times two or more monosacride units combine to form a big molecule. in such cases the compounds are referred as di sacrides or tri sacrides etc. sucrose (sugar) is a di sacride.  some times monosacrides form long chains such as cotton. these are called polysacrides.