Can some plz help. What is the difference between dna and rna

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are both nucleic acids. Although they are quite similar, there are some vast differences between the two.

First, let's look at structural differences. DNA's structure is in the shape of a double-stranded helix while RNA's is structured as a single-stranded helix. DNA's backbone is made of the sugars deoxyribose and phosphate while RNA's backbone is made of the sugars ribose and phosphate. DNA also contains the bases adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine (adenine bonds with thymine and cytosine bonds with guanine) while RNA contains all said bases, except thymine is replaced with uracil (because of this change, the new bases pairings are adenine and uracil and still cytosine and guanine).

Let's look at their functions. DNA functions as a storage unit. RNA is used to form proteins. In order to do so, the RNA uses said information stored within the DNA (a gene) and makes a complementary strand of this certain amount of information. This is an mRNA molecule. After this information is transcribed, it sends this information to ribosomes (in the cytoplasm). The mRNA message is read 3 bases at a time. These 3 base sequences are called codons. This first part of the process is known as transcription. When the mRNA molecule meets an rRNA molecule (a ribosome), tRNA molecules begin to carry amino acids to the ribosome. It is responsible for matching amino acids up to the correct mRNA codon. This occurs at the ribosome. When the process is completed, a protein is created and is used to express the gene held within the information in the DNA molecule. This second part of the process is known as translation.