Here was once a time when chemists
thought "organic" referred only to things that were living, and that
life was the result of a spiritual "life force." While there is nothing
wrong with viewing life as having a spiritual component, spiritual
matters are simply outside the realm of science, and to mix up the two
is as silly as using mathematics to explain love (or vice versa). In
fact, the "life force" has a name: carbon, the common denominator in all
living things. Not everything that has carbon is living, nor are all
the areas studied in organic chemistry—the branch of chemistry devoted
to the study of carbon and its compounds—always concerned with living
things.The element carbon forms a vast number of compounds.
Over 16 million carbon-containing compounds are known, and about 90% of the new compounds synthesized each year contain carbon. The study of carbon compounds constitutes a separate branch of chemistry known as organic chemistry. This term arose from the eighteenth-century belief that organic compounds could be formed only by living systems. This idea was disproved in 1828 by the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler when he synthesized urea (H2NCONH2), an organic substance found in the urine of mammals, by heating ammonium cyanate (NH4OCN), an inorganic substance. Organic chemistry addresses an array of subjects as vast as the number of possible compounds that can be made by strings of carbon atoms.
Life on earth depends on the chemical element carbon, which is present in every living thing. Carbon is so important, it forms the basis for two branches of chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. The GED will expect you to be familiar with the following terms:
Hydrocarbons - molecules that only contain the elements carbon and hydrogen (e.g., CH4 is a hydrocarbon while CO2 is not)
Organic - refers to the chemistry of living things, all of which contain the element carbon
Organic Chemistry - study of the chemistry of carbon compounds involved in life (so, studying diamond, which is a crystalline form of carbon, isn't included in organic chemistry, but studying how methane is produced is covered by organic chemistry)
Organic Molecules - molecules that have carbon atoms linked together in a straight line (carbon chain) or in a circular ring (carbon ring)
Polymer - hydrocarbons which have chained together
Over 16 million carbon-containing compounds are known, and about 90% of the new compounds synthesized each year contain carbon. The study of carbon compounds constitutes a separate branch of chemistry known as organic chemistry. This term arose from the eighteenth-century belief that organic compounds could be formed only by living systems. This idea was disproved in 1828 by the German chemist Friedrich Wöhler when he synthesized urea (H2NCONH2), an organic substance found in the urine of mammals, by heating ammonium cyanate (NH4OCN), an inorganic substance. Organic chemistry addresses an array of subjects as vast as the number of possible compounds that can be made by strings of carbon atoms.
Chemistry of Life
Life on earth depends on the chemical element carbon, which is present in every living thing. Carbon is so important, it forms the basis for two branches of chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. The GED will expect you to be familiar with the following terms:
Hydrocarbons - molecules that only contain the elements carbon and hydrogen (e.g., CH4 is a hydrocarbon while CO2 is not)
Organic - refers to the chemistry of living things, all of which contain the element carbon
Organic Chemistry - study of the chemistry of carbon compounds involved in life (so, studying diamond, which is a crystalline form of carbon, isn't included in organic chemistry, but studying how methane is produced is covered by organic chemistry)
Organic Molecules - molecules that have carbon atoms linked together in a straight line (carbon chain) or in a circular ring (carbon ring)
Polymer - hydrocarbons which have chained together
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