Fundamentals

Chemical basis
Atoms and molecules
Further information: Chemistry

In the Bohr model of an atom, electrons (blue dot) orbit around an atomic nucleus (red-filled circle) in
specific atomic orbitals (grey empty circles).

All organisms are made up of matter and all matter is made up of elements.

[34]
 Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen are the four elements that account for 96% of all
organisms, with calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium accounting for the
remaining 3.7%.[34] Different elements can combine to form compounds such as water, which is
fundamental to life.[34] Life on Earth began from water and remained there for about three billions
years prior to migrating onto land. [35] Matter can exist in different states as a solid, liquid, or gas.
The smallest unit of an element is an atom, which is composed of an atomic nucleus and one or
more electrons moving around the nucleus, as described by the Bohr model.[36] The nucleus is made
of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Protons have a positive electric charge, neutrons
are electrically neutral, and electrons have a negative electric charge. [37] Atoms with equal numbers
of protons and electrons are electrically neutral. The atom of each specific element contains a
unique number of protons, which is known as its atomic number, and the sum of its protons and
neutrons is an atom's mass number. The masses of individual protons, neutrons, and electrons can
be measured in grams or Daltons (Da), with the mass of each proton or neutron rounded to 1 Da.
[37]
 Although all atoms of a specific element have the same number of protons, they may differ in the
number of neutrons, thereby existing as isotopes.[34] Carbon, for example, can exist as a stable
isotope (carbon-12 or carbon-13) or as a radioactive isotope (carbon-14), the latter of which can be
used in radiometric dating (specifically radiocarbon dating) to determine the age of organic materials.
[34]

Individual atoms can be held together by chemical bonds to form molecules and ionic compounds.
[34]
 Common types of chemical bonds include ionic bonds, covalent bonds, and hydrogen bonds. Ionic
bonding involves the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions, or between two atoms
with sharply different electronegativities,[38] and is the primary interaction occurring in ionic
compounds. Ions are atoms (or groups of atoms) with an electrostatic charge. Atoms that gain
electrons make negatively charged ions (called anions) whereas those that lose electrons make
positively charged ions (called cations).
Unlike ionic bonds, a covalent bond involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. These
electron pairs and the stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms, when they
share electrons, is known as covalent bonding. [39]
A hydrogen bond is primarily an electrostatic force of attraction between a hydrogen atom which is
covalently bound to a more electronegative atom or group such as oxygen. A ubiquitous example of
a hydrogen bond is found between water molecules. In a discrete water molecule, there are two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Two molecules of water can form a hydrogen bond between
them. When more molecules are present, as is the case with liquid water, more bonds are possible
because the oxygen of one water molecule has two lone pairs of electrons, each of which can form a
hydrogen bond with a hydrogen on another water molecule.