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Justify why carbon is considered the building block for life. In your response, be sure to use scientific vocabulary.

Sagot :

Carbon is considered the building block of life, mainly because of its chemical characteristics, its chemistry is very varied, carbon is capable of forming more chemical compounds than the rest of the elements in the periodic table. Furthermore, the chemical bonds of carbon with other elements are very stable which allows it to form complex molecules. There are around 10 million carbon-based compounds in living organisms.

All these compounds and molecules can be classified into four great types (this apply only for living organisms, hydrocarbons, are another group):

Carbohydrates (that is the sugar family), lipids (that is fat molecules), proteins, and nucleic acids (RNA and DNA).

All the previously mentioned compounds are essential for the proper functioning of living organisms, be unicellular or multicellular, independently of the phyla they belong to. Even more, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for many living organisms, ourself's humans included.