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Chemistry Applications Essay Mr. Ceccarelli Chemistry 1 Honors 4 January 2013 Elements Required by Living Organisms Have you ever been sitting in class one day, and wondered “When will I ever use any of this?” Most students have and while learning about how King Henry VII was married six times in history might not get you very far, chemistry is something that is all around us. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise considering that everything in this universe, from the shirt you are wearing to the food we eat, is made from one or more of the over 100 elements on the periodic table. Even we as humans are just a combination of elements in varying quantities. Not all the elements are in living organisms. So far, 29 elements have been identified as being necessary to life processes.

Organisms are mostly comprised of just six main elements. Carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen make up 97% of organisms. They are found in many different molecules all throughout cells. Carbon is one of the most abundant and versatile elements in living organisms. Its four bonding sites allow it to be the backbone of a variety of complex molecules. It makes up the backbone of the four basic macromolecule groups, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates. Phosphorus is crucial to living organisms. Along with being in the backbone of DNA and RNA, phosphorus is found in the membranes of cells and ATP, the energy source for most cellular functions. Nitrogen is found in amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, as well as the base pairs of DNA. Sulfur is found in a lot of amino acids, particularly in the proteins of the hair and nails of mammals. Oxygen and hydrogen make up the most abundant compound in organisms, water, which is 70% of the mass of cells. These six elements are all necessary for life to function on this earth.

The six elements discussed above are not the only ones necessary for life though. Many other elements are required. There are five ions that all organisms require, Ca2+, Cl-, Mg2+, K+, and Na+. All of these ions are crucial to ensure that an organism functions properly. For example, calcium ions, in animals, are necessary for the formation of the skeletal system as well as for the transmission of nervous signals and sodium and potassium are pumped in and out of cells to keep their volumes consistent. There are also 23 other elements that have been found in various organisms. These include copper and iron, which are necessary in humans for the making of hemoglobin, fluorine, which makes our teeth stay healthy, and chlorine, an essential electrolyte. Contrary to popular belief arsenic, while harmful in large quantities, is actually necessary for proper growth and development.

So next time you want to ponder the meaning of life and what we humans are made of on the inside, you can think about chemistry and how we are all just a collection of elements and compounds. Works Cited Brown, Theodore L., H. Eugene Le May Jr., Bruce E. Burnsten, Catherine J. Murphy. //Chemistry: The Central Science.// New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2009. Print. "The Role of Elements in Life Processes." //Welcome//. Mineral Information Institute, n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2013.