What are the four major groups of organic compounds?
The four main groups of carbon molecules of life are the most complex organic compounds: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. All complex organic molecules are polymers. Polymers are complexes of repeated structural units, known as monomers. Essentially, polymers are complexes of monomers.
What are the most common organic compounds?
The most abundant organic compound on Earth in terms of chemical class is the carbohydrate, one of the four so-called molecules of life along with proteins, lipids and nucleic acids .
What are the classifications of organic compounds?
Organic compounds are classified on the basis of their functional groups. There are four major types of compounds found in all living organisms; these are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. These molecules form long chains of similar subunits or polymers. Subunits of polymers are known as monomers.
What do the four major organic compounds have in common?
This means that all organic compounds have in common the presence of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms. In addition, different organic compounds may contain oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous, and other elements. Carbon dioxide (CO 2) does not have hydrogen; then, it is not an organic compound.
What four elements are found in organic compounds?
Four elements, hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen, are the major components of most organic compounds. Consequently, our understanding of organic chemistry must have, as a foundation, an appreciation of the electronic structure and properties of these elements.
What are three organic molecules that are important to life?
Organic compounds are important because all living organisms (redundant) contain carbon. The three basic macromolecules of life are Carbohydrates (#CH_2O#), Fats (lipids) (#CHO#) and Proteins #(CHON)#.
What organic molecules does the body need?
One type of organic molecule that must be present in your diet is protein. Proteins are made up of chains of organic molecules, called amino acids. Your body uses combinations of 20 different amino acids, arranged in specific sequences, to make the thousands of unique human proteins present in your cells and tissues.