Common Substances Essential to Living Things

1. Common Substances Essential to Living Things What do we need to survive?

2. Organic vs. Inorganic Compounds • Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are the most common elements in living things • These three elements make up sugars, oils, fats, waxes, starches and proteins • Since all of the above compounds contain carbon – Organic Compounds • If a substance doesn’t contain carbon, then it is called an Inorganic Compound

3. Organic or Inorganic??? • Limestone? • Distilled water? • Hydrochloric acid? • Vitamin C? • Fat? • ASA? • Sugar? • Urea? • Silver Nitrate? • Baking Soda? • Bleach?

4. Organic or Inorganic??? • Limestone – CaCO3 ORGANIC • Distilled water – H20 INORGANIC • Hydrochloric acid – HCl INORGANIC • Vitamin C – C6H8O6 ORGANIC • ASA – CH3COOC6H4COOH ORGANIC • Sugar – C6H12O6 ORGANIC • Urea – NH2CONH2 ORGANIC • Silver Nitrate – AgNO3 INORGANIC • Baking Soda – NaHCO3 ORGANIC • Bleach – NaOCl INORGANIC

5. Needed in large amounts for survival “Macro-” means large or large-scale Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur are all macronutrients in plants Needed in minor or trace amounts for survival “Micro-” means small or small-scale Zinc, iron, cadmium, selenium and others are micronutrients MacronutrientsMicronutrients

7. Optimum Amounts • All nutrients (macronutrients or micronutrients) have an optimum amount of which to ingest for best health • Example – Selenium – need for 70 μg (micrograms) for best health

8. Carbohydrates • Made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms • These molecules can form sugars and starches • Glucose is the simplest carbohydrate and is produced by plants during photosynthesis

9. Sources of Carbohydrates

10. Lipids • Made up of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen atoms • Waxes, oils and fats belong to this group of organic molecules • Plant products contain a large amount of oil (canola seeds, corn, peanuts, soybeans, walnuts and cashews)

11. Examples of Lipids

12. Amino Acids • Amino acids join together to form proteins • has a central carbon atom surrounded by the following elements: hydrogen, oxygen, other carbons, nitrogen or sulfur • Used in growth and repair, as a source of energy and they make up enzymes

13. Sources of Amino Acids

14. Nucleic Acids • Made up of phosphates, simple sugars (called ribose) and nitrogen-containing molecules • All cells contain two nucleic acids: • DNA (deoxyribonucleic acids) • RNA (ribonucleic acids) • Plays a major role in heredity and in controlling a cell’s activities

15. Nucleic Acids