Elements, Ions, and

Compounds Important to
living organism

By Group 1
Torregoza
Caballero
Sulapas
Agonia

Introduction
There

are 25 elements that are

essential for life but only 4 make
up 96% of all living matter.
But currently, there are 92 known
natural elements, 25 of which are
essential for life with six of these
elements termed the building
blocks of life.
The remaining 19 elements are
defined as trace element.

Element: Carbon
It

is one of the most important

elements and is the basis of all
life. The importance of carbon
comes mainly from the enormous
variety of structure that it can
form, as a result of an unusual
number of valence electrons(4).

One

of the most important

functions of this element is seen
in the carbon backbone of fatty
acids, carbohydrates, and other
organic molecules. Though other
elements share similar properties
with carbon, they are not nearly
as abundant on earth.
Carbon is essential to all known
living systems, and without it life
as we know it, could not exit.

Ion: Nitrate
Its

is ployatomic ion with the formula NO3

And a molecular mass of 62.0049 /gmol.
Nitrates aslo describe organic functional
group RONO . These nitrate esters are
especialized classs of explosives.
Nitrates are mainly produced for use
asfertilizersinagriculturebecause of
their high solubility and biodegradability.
The main nitrates are ammonium, sodium,
potassium, and calcium salts. Several
million kilograms are produced annually
for this purpose.
2.

minor use in meat

curing:Although nitrites are the
nitrogen compound chiefly used in meat
curing, nitrates are used in certain
specialty curing processes where a long
release of nitrite from parent nitrate
stores is needed. The use of nitrates in
food preservation is controversial. This
is due to the potential for the formation
of nitrosamines when nitrates are
present in high concentrations and the
product is cooked at high temperatures.
The effect is seen for red or processed
meat, but not for white meat or fish.

Compound: Salt
It

is an ionic compound that

results from the neutralization
reaction of an acid and a base.
Salts are composed of related
numbers of cations and anions.
These component ions can be
inorganic, such as chloride or
organic such as acetate.
There are several varieties of
salts. Slats that hydrolyze to
produce hydroxide ions when

Salt

is essential for life and as the body

cant produce it itself, has to be provided
in small white boxes. Without it, our
bodies become chemically unbalanced,
our muscles and nervous system cease
to function and eventually we die. We die
eventually anyway of course, but salt
keeps us going for a bit longer.
All our body fluids are salty. Blood, sweat,
tears, saliva and the general consensus
among experts is that a healthy adult
should aim towards a daily intake of five
or six grams of salt to maintain a good
balance.