Carbon cycle

Chapter 4 Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life Outline Carbon: The Backbone of Life Organisms are made up of chemicals based mostly on carbon Carbon comes into the atmosphere through the action of plants: plants use solar energy to transform CO2 Carbon forms molecules that are large, complex, and varied Organic Chemistry is the Study of Carbon Compounds Organic Chemistry: The branch of chemistry that specializes in the study of carbon compounds Overall percentages of the major elements of life are quite uniform from one organism to the next Chemists learned to make many simple compounds in the lab by combining elements under the right conditions by the 1800s Vitalism: The belief in a life force outside the jurisdiction of physical and chemical laws