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Carbon compounds. Carbon compounds are defined as chemical substances containing carbon. [ 1][ 2] More compounds of carbon exist than any other chemical element except for hydrogen. Organic carbon compounds are far more numerous than inorganic carbon compounds. In general bonds of carbon with other elements are covalent bonds.
Carbon-based compounds form the basis of all known life on Earth, and the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle provides a small portion of the energy produced by the Sun, and most of the energy in larger stars (e.g. Sirius). Although it forms an extraordinary variety of compounds, most forms of carbon are comparatively unreactive under normal conditions.
Some chemical authorities define an organic compound as a chemical compound that contains a carbon–hydrogen or carbon–carbon bond; others consider an organic compound to be any chemical compound that contains carbon. For example, carbon-containing compounds such as alkanes (e.g. methane CH4) and its derivatives are universally considered ...
Category. v. t. e. Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms. [ 1] Study of structure determines their structural formula.
Organic matter. Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come from the feces and remains of organisms such as plants and animals. [ 1]
A functional group is a group of atoms in a molecule with distinctive chemical properties, regardless of the other atoms in the molecule. The atoms in a functional group are linked to each other and to the rest of the molecule by covalent bonds. For repeating units of polymers, functional groups attach to their nonpolar core of carbon atoms and ...
Carbon-based life. The Lewis structure of a carbon atom, showing its four valence electrons. Carbon is a primary component of all known life on Earth, and represents approximately 45–50% of all dry biomass. [ 1] Carbon compounds occur naturally in great abundance on Earth.
e. A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, [ 1] is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. In each cycle, the chemical element or molecule ...