THE ELEMENT THAT

MAKEUP LIVING THINGS

Presented by: Group 2
 LET'S HAVE A GAME!
This game is called “GUESS GAME”

RULES
:
If you know the answer, just press the “raised hand”
button down there : )
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

C
C _ R _ _ N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

C
C A R B O N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

H
_ Y _ R _ G _ N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

H
H Y D R O G E N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

N
N _ _ R _ _ E N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

N
N I T R O G E N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

O
O _ _ _ _ N
 Guess
THE ELEMENT

O
O X Y G E N
 • Around 300 to 400 BC, the Greek
philosopher Aristotle proposed
that everything was made up of
five elements.
• These were earth, water, wind,
fire, and aether.
• These were the ones that make up
everything around us, in nature
and complexity of the
composition of matter.

ARISTOTLE
 THE FIVE
ELEMENTS
• Air, Fire, Water, and Earth are the “simple
bodies” human experience.
• Their qualities are either hot or cold and
wet or dry.
• The fifth element, Aether, is considered
the perfect element

1. Air — wet and hot

2. Fire — hot and dry
3. Water — cold and wet
4. Earth — dry and cold
 WU XING SYSTEM
• The Chinese had the Wu Xing system that
lists wood, fire, earth, metal, and water as
the basic elements.
• Each part has its own meaning and they
all work together in different ways.
• These parts affect things like health and
nature in cycles.

• wood is about growth

• fire is about energy
• earth is about stability
• metal is about strength
• water is about change.
PERIODIC TABLE OF ELEMENTS
 ABOUT PERIODIC TABLE OF
• ELEMENTS:
the periodic table was invented by Russian chemist Dmitri
Mendeleev in 1869. He created it to organize the known
elements based on their atomic mass and chemical
properties
• the periodic table is made up of rows and columns of
elements
• an element is identified by its chemical symbol
• the number above the symbol is the atomic number
• a row is called a period
• a column is called a group
 • All living things are made up of only four elements.
• These are carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen
• Phosphorus and Sulfur are also present in cells, but are found to
be in much smaller amounts

The chart on the next slide tell us the relative amounts of the
distribution of these elements in living things, in the Earth's crust,
and its distribution in the universe.
ABUNDANCE OF THE ELEMENTS:
 It was in a year 1828 when Friedrich
Wohler, a German chemist, desribed a
chemical reaction of the conversion of
ammonium cyanate to urea. It was a
revolutionary idea at that time that proved
that biological compounds, those that are
produced by living things, are not different
from chemical reactions produced in the
laboratory.

FRIEDRICH
WOHLER
They are simply remembered as CHON
 CARBON
• Carbon is present in all biological compounds.
• In fact, an entire branch of chemistry is dedicated to
the study of compounds that make up carbon. That
branch is called organic chemistry.
• “Organic” is the term used to denote compound that
are taken from or produced by living things.
• A carbon atom is made up of 6 protons, 6 neutrons,
and, 6 electrons.
• This makes it capable of forming long chains
carbon atoms that make up the skeleton or
backbone of most biological compounds.
 • Antoine Lavoisier proposed
carbon as an element in 1789.
• During the first half of the 18th
century, Lavoisier proved that
carbon exists in different forms,
• including amorphous carbon,
diamond, and granite.

ANTON LAVOISIER
DIFFERENT FORMS
 HYDROGEN
• Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant
element in the entire universe.
• With only 1 proton and 1 electron, it is capable of
forming 1 covalent bond with almost any element
which is willing to share an electron with it.
• Together with carbon, the skeletal chain of
biological compounds is basically made of
compounds called hydrocarbons.
• Hydrocarbon is a compound that contains only the
elements carbon and hydrogen.
• Hydrocarbons mix poorly with water
 OXYGEN

• Oxygen is the most abundant element found in living

things
• It has 8 protons, 8 neutrons, and 8 electrons.
• Its 6 valence electrons make it able to form two
convalent bonds, either as two single bonds or a double
bond with other atoms.
• It is discoverd by Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
 NITROGEN

• Nitrogen is the least abundant among the four elements

in living things
• with 7 protons, 7 neutrons, and 7 electrons.
• Its 5 valence electrons make it able to form 3 bonds, in
combinations of either 1 triple bond, 1 double bond,
and a single bond, or 3 single bonds.
• Daniel Rutherford, a scientist, discovered it as a gas in
1772.
 The property of oxygen (and nitrogen) called electronegativity is responsible for pulling
towards itself an imbalance lf electrons in a covalent bond. The imbalance allows it to form
a slightly negative region or pole in the molecule while the atom it is bonded to becomes a
slightly positive region or pole. These positive and negative regions, called poles give rise to
a property known as polarity.

Polarity is important in biological substances since it drives and dictates chemical reactions
and interactions with each other.
DETERMINING BOND POLARITIES
• Biomolecules are made up of different combinations of bonds
between different elements.
• Most of these bonds are covalent bonds which means that the
electrons are shared with both atoms that form the bond.
• A property called bond polarity helps in predicting the overall
polarity of a biomolecule.
• The bond polarity is determined by the difference in
electronegativities of the atoms in the bond.
The list below classifies the bond polarity based
on the electronegativity difference
WHY ARE THESE ELEMENTS
ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE?
QUIZ TIME
 ESSAY! (5PTS EACH)

1) In your own words, which element do you think is the most

abundant? Why?

2) How do these elements contribute to the structure and function of

living organisms?
 ENUMERATE THE FOLLOWING!

• List down the 5 elements that Aristotle proposed

• What are the four main elements that make up living things?
• What are the elements that can also be found in cells?
 ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS!
1. A row in the periodic table of element is called?
2. They are made up of different combinations of bonds between
different elements
3. It is a compound that contains only the elements carbon and
hydrogen
4. It is the simplest and most abundant element in the entire universe.
5. It is present in all biological compounds.
6. He dsribed a chemical reaction of the conversion of ammonium
cyanate to urea.
7. How many electrons needed to make it able to form two convalent
bonds?
8. It is the most abundant element found in living things
9. It is responsible for pulling towards itself an imbalance lf
electrons in a covalent bond.
10. It drives and dictates chemical reactions and interactions with
each other
THANK
YOU <3