The Chemical Basis of Life

Carbon is the most important element to living things because it can form many different kinds of
bonds and form essential compounds.

• All living things contain carbon in some form.

• Carbon is the primary component of macromolecules, including proteins, lipids, nucleic
acids, and carbohydrates.
• Carbon’s molecular structure allows it to bond in many different ways and with many
different elements.
• The carbon cycle shows how carbon moves through the living and non-living parts of the
environment.
• octet rule: A rule stating that atoms lose, gain, or share electrons in order to have a full
valence shell of 8 electrons (has some exceptions).
• carbon cycle: the physical cycle of carbon through the earth’s biosphere, geosphere,
hydrosphere, and atmosphere; includes such processes as photosynthesis, decomposition,
respiration and carbonification
• macromolecule: a very large molecule, especially used in reference to large biological
polymers (e.g., nucleic acids and proteins)

Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe and is the building block of life on
earth. On earth, carbon circulates through the land, ocean, and atmosphere, creating what is known
as the Carbon Cycle. This global carbon cycle can be divided further into two separate cycles: the
geological carbon cycles takes place over millions of years, whereas the biological or physical
carbon cycle takes place from days to thousands of years. In a nonliving environment, carbon can
exist as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbonate rocks, coal, petroleum, natural gas, and dead organic
matter. Plants and algae convert carbon dioxide to organic matter through the process of
photosynthesis, the energy of light.

Carbon is Important to Life

In its metabolism of food and respiration, an animal consumes glucose (C6H12O6), which combines
with oxygen (O2) to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and energy, which is given off
as heat. The animal has no need for the carbon dioxide and releases it into the atmosphere. A plant,
on the other hand, uses the opposite reaction of an animal through photosynthesis. It intakes carbon
dioxide, water, and energy from sunlight to make its own glucose and oxygen gas. The glucose is
used for chemical energy, which the plant metabolizes in a similar way to an animal. The plant
then emits the remaining oxygen into the environment.

Cells are made of many complex molecules called macromolecules, which include proteins,
nucleic acids (RNA and DNA), carbohydrates, and lipids. The macromolecules are a subset of
organic molecules (any carbon-containing liquid, solid, or gas) that are especially important for
life. The fundamental component for all of these macromolecules is carbon. The carbon atom has
unique properties that allow it to form covalent bonds to as many as four different atoms, making
this versatile element ideal to serve as the basic structural component, or “backbone,” of the
macromolecules.

Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions

Chemical reactions often produce changes in energy.

• Chemical reactions often involve changes in energy due to the breaking and formation of
bonds.
• Reactions in which energy is released are exothermic reactions, while those that take in
heat energy are endothermic.
• endothermic: A description of a chemical reaction that absorbs heat energy from its
surroundings.
• enthalpy: In thermodynamics, a measure of the heat content of a chemical or physical
system. The change in enthalpy of a chemical reaction is symbolized as ΔH.
• exothermic: A description of a chemical reaction that releases heat energy to its
surroundings.

Due to the absorption of energy when chemical bonds are broken, and the release of energy when
chemical bonds are formed, chemical reactions almost always involve a change in energy between
products and reactants. By the Law of Conservation of Energy, however, we know that the total
energy of a system must remain unchanged, and that oftentimes a chemical reaction will absorb or
release energy in the form of heat, light, or both. The energy change in a chemical reaction is due
to the difference in the amounts of stored chemical energy between the products and the reactants.
This stored chemical energy, or heat content, of the system is known as its enthalpy.