Carbon: The Building Block of
Organic Compounds
3/22/2016
All life as we know it is made up of
organic compounds.
Today’s Lesson
• What does that word mean- “organic”???
• What does that word mean- “compound”???
Atoms are the smallest unit that make up the
chemical elements. Things that we can see and
feel around us are made up of atoms.
Atoms can get lonely…
• A molecule is created when two or more
atoms meet and chemically bond together.
– Examples: H2 (hydrogen), O2 (oxygen), O3 (ozone)
• A molecule can be called a compound if it has
at least 2 different kinds of atoms that meet
and chemically bond together.
– Examples: H2O (water), CO2 (carbon dioxide)
Single Atom
Water Molecule
Compound
Glucose/Sugar Molecule
Compound
Organic compounds always have carbon plus a
few other elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and
nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur.
Remember CHON-P’s
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
‘
Sulfur
There are organic compounds that make
up you!- your hair, your skin, even your
fingernails…
-All are formulas
CO2
-All are compounds
H2O
-All contain elements
C6H12O6
-All contain atoms
Are any of these compounds organic?
If so, how do you know?
It must have carbon and at least one of the
following elements:
~ Hydrogen
- H
~ Oxygen
- O
~ Phosphorous - P
~ Sulfur
- S
~ Nitrogen
-N
There are exceptions – example: Carbon
Dioxide contains carbon and oxygen, but is
not considered to be organic.
Using the list of formulas projected, create a TChart labeled Organic and Inorganic. Highlight or
circle the element(s) that make it organic






Sulfur Dioxide - SO2
Acetone - CH3COCH3
Ozone - O3
Epinephrine C9H13NO3
Nitric Acid - HNO3
Butane - C4H10




Amphetamine C9H13N
Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2
Formaldehyde CH2O
Gold Oxide - Au2O3
Why is carbon such a special element?
Virtually
every part of
our bodies is
made with
large
amounts of
this element.
Why is carbon such a special element?
• Each carbon atom can form strong, stable bonds with four
other atoms at a time – these are usually oxygen, hydrogen,
nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus atoms.
• Carbon can also bond to other carbon atoms to form chains
that are almost unlimited in length.
• This creates a huge number and variety
of molecules that can be built from
carbon atoms. No other element even
comes close!
This can be difficult to imagine at first, but
it may help to think about building with
LEGOS.
Think of red LEGOS to represent atoms of
carbon. You can think of carbon as a bunch of
red LEGOS attached together to form one long
chain.
• Now, you can stick yellow, blue and green
LEGOS across the tops of the red (carbon)
LEGOS.
• These other colors represent other elements
like oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen.
• As you stick more and more of these yellow,
blue and green LEGOS to the red chain, it
would start to look like a skeleton of LEGOS
with a "spine" of red LEGOS and "bones" of
yellow, blue and green LEGOS.
• This is a lot like the way that big molecules are
made in the body. Without carbon, these big
molecules could not be built.
• Virtually every
part of your
body is made up
of these large
molecules that
are based
around chains of
carbon atoms.
Organic Building Blocks
Hydrocarbons are the simplest of the organic compounds. As the name
suggests, hydrocarbons are made from hydrogen and carbon.
EXAMPLES:
CH4
Organic Building Blocks
•The name, carbohydrates, is a good
one because it indicates carbon and
water (hydrogen and oxygen).
•Remember, dehydrated means loss of
water, and to be hydrated means to add
water.
Organic Building Blocks
•Lipids (oils and fats) are
another class of organic
compounds built from oxygen,
hydrogen, and carbon. It's
amazing what these three
elements can build!
Organic Building Blocks
Amino acids are the building block
for proteins.
Proteins are made by connecting
amino acids together.
Organic Building Blocks
A few amino acids are built by carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and
sulfur.
Mammals need about 20 amino acids to make the proteins they need.
Only 2 of these are amino acids containing sulfur.
Organic Building Blocks
We will end our organic building blocks
with the ultimate of building blockDNA.
We need just one more element to
build it: phosphorus.
Organic Building Blocks Review
• Hydrocarbons= hydrogen + carbon
• Carbohydrates and Lipids = hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen
• Amino Acids and Proteins = hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and
nitrogen
• Some Amino Acids and Proteins = hydrogen, carbon, oxygen,
nitrogen, and sulfur
• Nucleic Acids = hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur,
and phosphorus
Remember CHON-P’s
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
‘
Sulfur
Quick Question…
• What are the atoms that make up organic
compounds?
5/13/2010
TISD Lesson
Remember CHON-P’s
Carbon
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
‘
Sulfur