THE CHEMISTRY OF CARBON

Organic chemistry is easy to explain, but it's one of the largest fields of chemistry that exists on Earth. Basically organic chemists study every compound that has a carbon (C) atom in it. That's all. THAT'S ALL? They also study all of the reactions, structures and special qualities of carbon.

It might just be big on Earth. Life on Earth is based on carbon compounds. O-Chem crosses over into almost every field of chemistry (not inorganic chemistry). So when we say it's big here, we might be right. Other planets may have life based on silicon (Si). Other planets might have environments based on sulfur (S). Did you know that before photosynthesis worked the way it does now, some organisms could do it with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) instead of water (H2O)?

BIOCHEM VS. O-CHEM

Ahhh, the battle of the heavyweights. It is true that pretty much all compounds in biochemistry have carbon (C). There are also many more activities on Earth that use carbon (C) and have nothing to do with life. Take for example the series of minerals called Carbonates (-CO3). They all have carbon (C) compounds that mix with trace elements. Some examples are Calcite, Dolomite and Smithsonite.

RELATED LINKS

- Biology4Kids: Scientific Method
- Geography4Kids: Science Instruments
- Geography4Kids: Climatology
- Geography4Kids: Ecology
- Physics4Kids: Temperature Scales

- International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
- American Chemical Society

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