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Living things incorporate inorganic carbon compounds into organic compounds through a network of processes (the carbon cycle) that begins with the conversion of carbon dioxide and a hydrogen source like water into simple sugars and other organic molecules by autotrophic organisms using light (photosynthesis) or other sources of energy.
Inorganic compounds exhibit a range of bonding properties. Some are ionic compounds, consisting of very simple cations and anions joined by ionic bonding.Examples of salts (which are ionic compounds) are magnesium chloride MgCl 2, which consists of magnesium cations Mg 2+ and chloride anions Cl −; or sodium hydroxide NaOH, which consists of sodium cations Na + and hydroxide anions OH −.
Neutral organic compounds tend to be hydrophobic; that is, they are less soluble in water than inorganic solvents. Exceptions include organic compounds that contain ionizable groups as well as low molecular weight alcohols, amines, and carboxylic acids where hydrogen bonding occurs. Otherwise, organic compounds tend to dissolve in organic ...
All compounds are substances, but not all substances are compounds. A chemical compound can be either atoms bonded together in molecules or crystals in which atoms, molecules or ions form a crystalline lattice. Compounds based primarily on carbon and hydrogen atoms are called organic compounds, and all others are called inorganic compounds.
Autotrophs use energy from sunlight (photoautotrophs) or oxidation of inorganic compounds (lithoautotrophs) to convert inorganic carbon dioxide to organic carbon compounds and energy to sustain their life. Comparing the two in basic terms, heterotrophs (such as animals) eat either autotrophs (such as plants) or other heterotrophs, or both.
A black smoker vent in the Atlantic Ocean, providing energy and nutrients for chemotrophs. Chemoautotrophs are autotrophic organisms that can rely on chemosynthesis, i.e. deriving biological energy from chemical reactions of environmental inorganic substrates and synthesizing all necessary organic compounds from carbon dioxide.
Dissolved inorganic carbon is a key component of the biological pump, which is defined as the amount of biologically produced organic carbon flux from the upper ocean to the deep ocean. [6] Dissolved inorganic carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is fixed into organic carbon through photosynthesis.
The Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) in its definition of "inorganic" carbon compounds, states that such compounds may contain either C-H or C-C bonds, but not both. [7] The book series Inorganic Syntheses does not define inorganic compounds. The majority of its content deals with metal complexes of organic ligands. [8]