Elements Essential to Living Organisms

Of the 92 naturally occurring elements, living things are composed of only about 26, and 6 of those 26 make up practically all of the weight of most living things. The other 20 elements essential for life are present in very small amounts, some in such tiny amounts that they are designated simply as "trace elements".

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a gas that makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere and is important to living things as a component of genes and proteins. Nitrogen constitutes about 4% of an animal and 1% of a plant.

Phosphorus is not found in nature as a pure element. It is so reactive that it will combine with almost anything it contacts, even the air. Yet a certain amount of it combined with other elements is necessary for life. Phosphorus comprises just under 1% of a plant or an animal.

Calcium

Calcium is a grayish silver metal in pure form, but it too is rather reactive and is not found in pure form in nature. Very few plants have significant amounts of calcium, so is not shown on the plant diagram, but is makes up about 2% of the weight of a mammal, such as a rabbit, because it is one of the principal elements of the hard part of bone and is important in the contraction of muscle.

Nitrogen

Calcium – found in chalk, limestone and hydrite.

Antimony – used for production of bells and metal type.

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Despite only making up about 1 percent of a human being's total atoms, nitrogen is essential to both human and other organic life because it, alongside carbon, is found in all proteins. A protein is a compound that is used in cells to signal what actions the cell needs to take; effectively, proteins translate the passive codes of the DNA into actions. Nitrogen is also similar to oxygen in its ability to bond with several hydrogen atoms; a neutral nitrogen atom has seven electrons.

Nitrogen

Other Elements

Arsenic – used as medicines and also in making special glass and semi – conductors.

Antimony – used for production of bells and metal type.

Calcium – found in chalk, limestone and hydrite.

Chlorine – used to purify drinking water

There are 25 elements that are essential for life, but only four (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen) make up 96% of all living matter.

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Much like carbon, hydrogen is ubiquitous to molecules that form the basic components of life. Indeed, hydrogen is essential because it easily bonds with carbon. This is because hydrogen effectively serves as a linking element between the carbon base of a chain and other elements; hydrogen's high level of electro negativity is what allows it to play this role. Frequently hydrogen will end up linking carbon to more hydrogen atoms, and this continuing chain of hydrogen atoms is what creates the level of complexity needed to create an organic molecule (e.g., a fat or protein).

Hydrogen

All known living organisms on Earth are carbon-based organisms. Carbon is essential to life because of its ability to hold up to four stable bonds at a time, meaning it can form a larger variety of molecules and compounds than any other element found in living organisms, and thus it is often in the middle of a complex chain of elements. Because of this feature, carbon is found in all essential fats, proteins and is the basis for DNA and RNA.

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Carbon

Despite there being 118 known elements, only a handful of them are known to be found in living organisms. Indeed, the immense complexity of life is made up almost entirely of four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen; approximately 99 percent of the human body is made up of these elements.

Elements Essential to Living Organisms

Despite only making up about 1 percent of a human being's total atoms, nitrogen is essential to both human and other organic life because it, alongside carbon, is found in all proteins. A protein is a compound that is used in cells to signal what actions the cell needs to take; effectively, proteins translate the passive codes of the DNA into actions. Nitrogen is also similar to oxygen in its ability to bond with several hydrogen atoms; a neutral nitrogen atom has seven electrons.

Other Elements

Oxygen

Nitrogen

Calcium – found in chalk, limestone and hydrite.

Antimony – used for production of bells and metal type.

Oxygen serves several purposes in a living organism. Much like hydrogen, it combines easily with carbon, and because a neutral atom of oxygen has eight electrons, an oxygen atom easily combines with more hydrogen atoms to create a complex chain when forming fats or proteins. Additionally, oxygen (along with hydrogen) is found in water, which is essential for a living organism because many chemical reactions within a living organism occur in water, and water is also the primary median in which cells live.

Arsenic – used as medicines and also in making special glass and semi – conductors.

Chlorine – used to purify drinking water

There are 25 elements that are essential for life, but only four (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen) make up 96% of all living matter.

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There are 92 elements which occur naturally. Out of these there are 26 of which living things are composed. There are six elements which constitute the largest weight in living organisms. 

These elements which are abundantly found in all living organisms are Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Calcium and Phosphorus. These elements are found in living things in the form of Water, Glucose, Glycine and Calcium phosphate.

The most important combination of elements for all living organisms is water which is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Another very important compound for living organisms is glucose which constitutes Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Nitrogen is an important part of proteins. Water, proteins and glucose are the most important things for living things and all these compounds are made up of elements which reflects their importance.

Ronella Lacsamana

Kharren Babes Tuliao

Ellamae Pagcaliwagan

Princess Joan Magadia

Dorothy Lizette Abeleda

Phosphorus

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Hydrogen

ELEMENTS Essential to Living Organisms

The element hydrogen is a gas, and it is the most abundant element in the universe. Most of the hydrogen on earth is combined with other elements. Hydrogen gas is so light that it easily escapes the earth's gravity at the upper edges of the atmosphere and is lost into outer space. Plants and animals are about 10 percent hydrogen by weight.

Carbon

Oxygen is also a gas, but it is 16 times as heavy as hydrogen, so it remains in the atmosphere, although it also combines with many other elements. Water is a combination of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Oxygen makes up about 63% of a typical animal and about 77 percent of a typical plant.

The element carbon is familiar to almost everyone in the form of charcoal, which is nearly pure carbon. Carbon can also form crystals such as graphite, which is used in pencil lead and in lubricants, or as diamond, which few people would guess is also pure carbon. In living organisms, carbon is combined with other elements to form carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and many other substances. Carbon comprises about 19% of the weight of a typical animal and about 12% of the weight of a typical plant. That particular combination of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen shown here below the carbon box is the simple sugar glucose.

Oxygen