A: The four main chemicals that can be found in all living matter/organisms are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen.
Q: What is a trace element and how do they benefit humans?
A: Trace elements are elements that are needed by all living organisms. Trace elements are often added to certain foods such as cereal to increase the nutritional value of the food for health purposes.
Q: How is it that radioactive elements are be beneficial to humans?
A: Radioactive elements can be beneficial in the sense that they can help prevent as well as diagnose certain diseases or health issues that one may encounter. In small dosages, these elements will not harm the human body and with help make it healthier. For example using radioactive treatment in order to kill off cancerous cells. In high dosages this can prove to be fatal or cause mutations and other health issues.
Five main facts:
1) All living organisms are composed of about 25 chemical elements. There are some other elements that may be found in certain forms of life but these consist of the main elements.
2) Radioactive tracers are used by medical experts in order to help diagnose patients with certain ailments.
3) Covalent bonds are a strong chemical bond in which two atoms share electrons.
4) Ice is less dense then water because when water freezes it forms into a crystal and the bonds between the water molecules are all at equal distances from each other.
5) Buffers are biological fluids that help minimize the changes in pH.
This photo depicts how water molecules are arranged when it freezes. As shown, there is an equal distance between all of the hydrogen bonds and they appear of be very stable.
When reading this chapter, it introduced to the reader that before studying biology, one must understand what life is made up of. All living organisms are made up of elements which can be broken down to atoms wich can be broken down into subatomic particles. Chemical bonding is how certain elements are able to join up with each other and why they are able to do this. This chapter also alluded as to why water is able to support so much life. The pH scale states how things are measured in terms of acidity.
Key Terms:
1) Matter: anything that occupies space and has mass
2) Element: a substance that cannot be broken down to other substances by ordinary chemical means
3) Compound: substance consisting of two or more different elements combined in a fixed ratio
4) Proton: a subatomic particle with a single positive electrical charge
5) Electron: a subatomic particle with a single negative electrical charge
6) Neutron: a subatomic particle with neutral electrical charge
7) Molecule: two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds
8) Heat: amount of energy associated with the movement of atoms and molecules in a body of matter
9) pH scale: describe how acidic or basic a solution is
10) Chemical reaction: making and breaking of chemical bonds, leading to changes in the composition of matter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8tTELZD5Ek
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