ELEMENTS

Although life-forms exist in many diverse forms, they all

have one thing in common: they are all made up of matter
that is exchanged with the environment to grow, reproduce,
and maintain organization. Matter is made up of elements.
Elements, by definition, are substances that cannot be
broken down into simpler substances by chemical means.

The Essential Elements of Life

Although there are 92 natural elements, 96% of the mass of
all living things is made up of just four of them: oxygen
(O), carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and nitrogen (N). These
four elements are used to build biological molecules, such
as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. They
are also used to form storage compounds and cells in all
organisms. Other elements such as calcium (Ca),
phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), sodium (Na),
chlorine (Cl), and magnesium (Mg) are also present, but in
smaller quantities. These elements make up most of the
remaining four percent of a living thing’s weight. Some
elements are known as trace elements because they are
required by an organism only in very small quantities.
Trace elements include iron (Fe), iodine (I), and copper
(Cu).

Where Are They Found?

Carbon and hydrogen and oxygen are found
in all the macromolecules (essentially, very
big molecules). Nitrogen is found in proteins
and nucleic acids. Phosphorus is found in
nucleic acids and some lipids.

SUBATOMIC PARTICLES
The smallest unit of an element that retains its
characteristic properties is an atom. Atoms are the
building blocks of the physical world.
Within atoms, there are even smaller subatomic particles
called protons, neutrons, and electrons. Let’s take a look
at a typical atom.

Protons and neutrons are particles that are packed

together in the core of an atom called the nucleus. You’ll
notice that protons are positively charged (+) particles,
whereas neutrons are uncharged particles.

Electrons, on the other hand, are negatively charged (–)

particles that spin around the nucleus. Electrons are pretty
small compared to protons and neutrons. In fact, for our
purposes, electrons are considered massless. Most atoms
have the same number of protons and electrons, making
them electrically neutral. Some atoms have the same
number of protons but differ in the number of neutrons in
the nucleus. These atoms are called isotopes.
 Carbon-14 Isotopes
Some isotopes are radioactive and decay
predictably over time. Ancient artifacts can
be dated by examining the rate of decay of
carbon-14 and other isotopes within the
artifact. This process is called radiometric
dating.

COMPOUNDS
When two or more individual elements are combined in a
fixed ratio, they form a chemical compound. You’ll
sometimes find that a compound has different properties
from those of its elements. For instance, hydrogen and
oxygen exist in nature as gases. Yet when they combine to
make water, they often pass into a liquid state. When
hydrogen atoms get together with oxygen atoms to form
water, we’ve got a chemical reaction.

2H2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2H2O (l)

The atoms of a compound are held together by chemical

bonds, which may be ionic bonds, covalent bonds, or
hydrogen bonds.

An ionic bond is formed between two atoms when one or

more electrons are transferred from one atom to the other.
In order for this to occur, first, one atom loses electrons
and becomes positively charged, and the other atom gains
electrons and becomes negatively charged. The charged
forms of the atoms are called ions. An ionic bond results
from the attraction between the two oppositely charged
ions. For example, when Na reacts with Cl, the charged
ions Na+ and Cl– are formed.
A covalent bond is formed when electrons are shared
between atoms. If the electrons are shared equally between
the atoms, the bond is called nonpolar covalent. If the
electrons are shared unequally, the bond is called polar
covalent. When one pair of electrons is shared between
two atoms, the result is a single covalent bond. When two
pairs of electrons are shared, the result is a double
covalent bond. When three pairs of electrons are shared,
the result is a triple covalent bond.

WATER: THE VERSATILE MOLECULE

One of the most important substances in nature is water.
Water is considered a unique molecule because it plays an
important role in chemical reactions.

Water Weight
Did you know that more than 60 percent of
your body weight consists of water?

Just like all biological molecules, the elements that make up

water determine the properties of water. Water has two
hydrogen atoms joined to an oxygen atom.

In water molecules, the electrons are not shared equally in

the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen. This means that
the hydrogen atoms have a partial positive charge and the
oxygen atom has a partial negative charge. Molecules that
have partially positive and partially negative charges are
said to be polar. Water is therefore a polar molecule. The
positively charged elements of the water molecules
strongly attract the negatively charged ends of other polar
compounds (including water). Likewise, the negatively
charged ends strongly attract the positively charged ends
of polar compounds. These forces are most readily
apparent in the tendency of water molecules to stick
together, as in the formation of water beads or raindrops.

These types of intermolecular attractions are called

hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are weak chemical bonds
that form when a hydrogen atom that is covalently bonded
to one electronegative atom is also attracted to another
electronegative atom. Water molecules are held together by
hydrogen bonds.

Although hydrogen bonds are individually weak, they are

strong when present in large numbers. Because water
reacts well with other polar substances, it makes a great
solvent; it can dissolve many kinds of substances. The
hydrogen bonds that hold water molecules together
contribute to a number of special properties, including
cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, high heat
capacity, and expansion on freezing.

Cohesion and Adhesion

As mentioned above, water molecules have a strong
tendency to stick together. That is, water exhibits cohesive
forces. These forces are extremely important to life. For
instance, during transpiration, water molecules evaporate
from a leaf, “pulling” on neighboring water molecules.
These, in turn, draw up the molecules immediately behind
them, and so on, all the way down the plant vessels. The
resulting chain of water molecules enables water to move
up the stem.

Water molecules also like to stick to other substances—that

is, they’re adhesive. Have you ever tried to separate two
glass slides stuck together by a film of water? They’re
difficult to separate because of the water sticking to the
glass surfaces.

These two forces taken together—cohesion and adhesion—

account for the ability of water to rise up the roots, trunks,
and branches of trees. Since this phenomenon occurs in
thin vessels, it’s called capillary action.

Surface Tension
The cohesion of water molecules contributes to another
property of water, its surface tension. Like a taut
trampoline, the surface of water has a tension to it. The
water molecules are stuck together and light things like
leaves and water striders can sit atop the surface without
sinking.

ACIDS AND BASES

We just said that water is important because most reactions
occur in watery solutions. Well, there’s one more thing to
remember: reactions are also influenced by whether the
solution in which they occur is acidic, basic, or neutral.

What makes a solution acidic or basic? A solution is acidic

if it contains a lot of hydrogen ions (H+). That is, if you
dissolve an acid in water, it will release a lot of hydrogen
ions. When you think about acids, you usually think of
substances with a sour taste, like lemons. For example, if
you squeeze a little lemon juice into a glass of water, the
solution will become acidic. That’s because lemons contain
citric acid, which releases a lot of H+ into the solution.

Bases, on the other hand, do not release hydrogen ions

when added to water. They release a lot of hydroxide ions
(OH–). These solutions are said to be alkaline (the fancy
name for a basic solution). Bases usually have a slippery
consistency. Common soap, for example, is composed
largely of bases.

Important Formulas
Don’t forget to check out what formulas will
be given on the Equations and Formulas
sheet.

The acidity or alkalinity of a solution can be measured with

a pH scale. The pH scale is numbered from 1 to 14. The
midpoint, 7, is considered neutral pH. The concentration of
hydrogen ions in a solution will indicate whether it is
acidic, basic, or neutral. If a solution contains a lot of
hydrogen ions, then it will be acidic and have a low pH.
Here’s the trend:

An increase in H+ ions causes a decrease in the

pH.

pH = –log [H+]

One more thing to remember: the pH scale is not a linear

scale—it’s logarithmic. That is, a change of one pH number
actually represents a tenfold change in hydrogen ion
concentration. For example, a pH of 3 is actually ten times
more acidic than a pH of 4. This is also true in the reverse
direction: a pH of 4 represents a tenfold decrease in acidity
compared to a pH of 3.

Therefore, as the concentration of H+ ions increases by a

factor of 10, the pH becomes one number smaller. For
example, stomach acid has a pH between 1 and 3, and if we
use the equation, we discover that the concentration of H+
ions in stomach acid is 10–2 M. This is pretty high when you
consider the other extreme is lye, which has a pH of 14, a
concentration of H+ ions around 10–14 M! Use your
calculator to double-check that these numbers are correct.

You’ll notice from the following scale that stronger acids

have lower pHs. If a solution has a low concentration of
hydrogen ions, it will have a high pH.
The equation for pH is listed on the AP Biology Equations
and Formulas sheet. However, you will not be expected to
perform calculations using this equation. Instead, you
should understand how the equation works and when pH
calculations are useful.

ORGANIC MOLECULES
Now that we’ve discussed chemical compounds in general,
let’s talk about a special group of compounds. Most of the
chemical compounds in living organisms contain a skeleton
of carbon atoms surrounded by hydrogen atoms and often
other elements. These molecules are known as organic
compounds. By contrast, molecules that do not contain
carbon atoms are called inorganic compounds. For
example, salt (NaCl) is an inorganic compound.