Carbon Chemistry Organic Molecules – a molecule that contains carbon and hydrogen -- compounds from never living substances are referred to as “inorganic Organic compounds are those compounds found in any organism that is living or was once living

Carbon – The Element of Life Carbon’s unique atomic structure allows it to covalently bond with up to four other atoms -- carbon is the simplest element on the periodic table that has four valence electrons ( Atomic #6 = 6 total electrons ; 2 in the first, 4 in the outer) -- elements with either less or more than 4 valence electrons can only form a maximum of 3 covalent bonds, this is why 4 is a magic number and why carbon is special Drawing of carbon and it’s bonding ability: C

Carbon Compounds Carbon can be bonded covalently to up to four other atoms, but what a carbon is bonded to can be extraordinarily simple or extraordinarily complex. Hydrocarbons the simplest organic molecules are defined as being comprised of only carbon and hydrogen, and are therefore referred to as hydrocarbons. -- gasoline and fossil fuels are examples of hydrocarbons; often consist of many hydrocarbons bonded together

Carbon chains – when many carbons are bonded together to make long chains or rings Functional Groups – specialized clusters of atoms covalently bonded to carbon

Structural Models of Carbon Compounds In biology, the best (and easiest to read) model of carbon compound are the flat structural models -- shows the carbon atoms and the bonds to other atoms Examples: H H H HH H H C C C C C H H C H H H H H H H H C C H H C C H H C H H