Chemical Elements Found in Human Body: What Are Their Respective Role?
About 96% of the body's mass consists of only four elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, many of which exist in water. These nutrients have a variety of functions, including building bones and cell structures, regulating the pH of the body, carrying charges and driving chemical reactions. And most amazingly, the carbon existing in human hair can be extracted to grow into a real shiny diamond in the lab.
The elements that composed the human body and their functions
For whatever purpose, the body is an extremely complex machine. This requires many components to work together in complex relationships from micro to macromolecules. Some elements are more common than others. About 99% of the human body consists of six elements: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium and phosphorus. The other five elements account for about 0.85% of the remaining mass: sulfur, potassium, sodium, chlorine and magnesium. These 11 elements are essential elements. The remaining 0.15% of the human body is composed of trace elements.
Oxygen
Oxygen is the most common element found in the human body, accounting for about 65.0% of body mass. Most of the oxygen present is in the form of water. Oxygen and hydrogen form water together. Water is the main solvent in the human body and is used to regulate temperature and osmotic pressure. Oxygen exists in many important organic compounds.
Carbon
The content of carbon in the human body accounts for 18.5%, and other atoms have four bonding sites, which makes it a key atom in organic chemistry. Carbon chains are producing carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids and proteins. Breaking bonds combined with carbon becomes a source of energy.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the most abundant element found in the universe (about 75% of the total mass) and accounts for about 10% of the mass of the human body. It exists in the form of water (together with oxygen) and is an important element in organic molecules.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is one of the main body components to make protein synthesis and to produce several nitrogen-containing compounds, such as hormones, neurotransmitters and antioxidant defense components.
Calcium
Calcium is the most important and abundant mineral in the body. The body needs calcium so muscles can move and nerves can send messages from your brain to every part of your body and vice versa. Calcium can also help blood vessels carry your blood throughout the body and helps release hormones that affect many functions of the body.
Phosphorus
Approximately 85% of the human body’s phosphorus component is found in bones and teeth. Phosphorus can also be found in small amounts in cells and tissues throughout the body. Phosphorus helps filter waste from the kidneys and plays an important role in the body's storage and use of energy. It also helps reduce muscle pain after exercising.
Potassium
Potassium is naturally found in foods and is used as a supplement. Its main function in the body is to help maintain normal fluid levels in cells. Sodium, its counterpart, helps to maintain normal extracellular fluid levels. Potassium can also help muscles contract and also support normal blood pressure.
Sulfur
The body needs the element of sulfur to build and repair DNA and protect your cells from damage that can lead to serious diseases such as cancer. Sulfur can also help your body metabolize food and contribute to your skin’s health, tendons and ligaments. The two amino acids containing sulfur are called methionine and cysteine.
Sodium
Sodium element plays a key role in the human body. It helps control and maintain normal blood pressure, assists the work of nerves and muscles, and also helps regulate the balance of the body's fluid. Normal blood sodium levels range from 135 to 145 milliliters equivalent / liter (mEq / L).
Chlorine
Chlorine is a component of all the body secretions and excretions, which are produced by the construction (anabolism) and decomposition (catabolism) of the body’s tissues. The level of chlorine is closely related to the intake and output of sodium, as the main source of both is sodium chloride or common salt.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential nutrient that the body needs to stay in healthy conditions. Magnesium’s role is important in the body to regulate muscles and nerve function, your blood glucose levels and blood pressure, and in making protein, bone and DNA.
Trace elements
Trace elements are any chemical element that may exist in a very small amount in the human body and represent usually less than 0.1% by volume. Most trace elements can be classified as essential from a nutritive point of view or potentially toxic. These elements contribute to important body functions like metabolic function, tissue repair, growth and development. Since the human body cannot synthesize these elements naturally, people must ingest them through diet or using supplements. Excessive intake of these elements may have potential toxic effects. Trace elements necessary for nutrition include iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, selenium, chromium, iodine and molybdenum.
Why is carbon the best element in the human body?
Carbon found in carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that absorbs heat near the Earth. Carbon helps the Earth maintain the energy it gets from the sun so that it does not all escape back into space. Without carbon dioxide, the oceans on Earth would turn to solid ice. The special ability of carbon to form bonds with other elements and itself enables it to form a large number of complex macromolecules called organic molecules. These molecules form organisms and perform life processes.
The percentage of carbon in the human body
By mass, 96% of our bodies are composed of four key elements: oxygen (65%), carbon (18.5%), hydrogen (9.5%), and nitrogen (3.3%). These elements exist in the most abundant and important molecules in our body, including water, protein, and DNA.
Carbon element facts: what you should know
Carbon is an essential element of biology because it can be combined in many ways. It forms many compounds that are vital to life.
Its compounds may contain sp ³、 sp ² Or SP hybridization. This means that it can form bonds in all three-dimensional spaces and form molecules with complex shapes.
Carbon is the only element to form long chains that do not break at high temperatures. The main component of biological molecules is carbon. Other important ones are proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates.
All living things contain carbon.
Carbon: From The Stars To Life On Earth
According to the Swinburne Center, for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, carbon is the sixth most abundant element in the universe, forming a reaction called the three alpha process in the belly of stars.
In older stars that burn most of the hydrogen they contain, the remaining helium accumulates. Each helium atom has two protons and two neutrons. At very hot temperatures - more than 100000000 Kelvin (179999540.6 degrees Fahrenheit) - helium nuclei then begin to fuse, first in pairs into unstable 4-proton beryllium nuclei, and finally, when enough beryllium nuclei flicker, into one beryllium plus one helium protonic nucleus. The final result: an atom containing six protons and six neutrons - carbon.
Diamonds are made of pure carbon
Diamonds will always dominate all kinds of carbonaceous minerals in high-pressure forms, including known and undiscovered crystal forms. Diamonds are produced deep in the Earth’s mantle under extreme pressure and temperature conditions and are composed of a single element: carbon. It is the arrangement of C atoms in the lattice that gives diamonds amazing properties. This is the reason why diamonds are such a hard material because each carbon atom participates in four very strong covalent bonds between carbon atoms.
While for the other kind of real diamonds, lab-grown diamonds are diamonds grown in a laboratory that uses carbon, just like flowers grown in a greenhouse. They are like natural diamonds mined from the earth and shine with the same brilliance. Lab-grown diamonds have nothing to do with the unethical practices inherent in mining diamonds. They are ecologically friendly in their production and reliably sourced.
Natural diamonds vs. Lab-grown diamonds
Diamonds start as carbon atoms. If these atoms are kept at very high temperatures and under a certain degree of pressure for a long enough time, they will form diamonds. This is the diamond that was mined from beneath the earth.
The interesting fact is that human and animal hair contains carbon. This means that we can now use specialized techniques to extract carbon from hair to make diamonds. The result of this process is to be born a diamond that looks and acts just like any natural diamond. The carbon purity can reach 99.99%. You can place it safely in a special place or set it into a piece of monumental jewelry or keepsake.
Diamonds start as carbon atoms. If these atoms are kept at very high temperatures and under a certain degree of pressure for a long enough time, they will form diamonds. This is the diamond that was mined from beneath the earth.
The idea of hair diamonds may sound strange to you. If you are not familiar with the idea, it is reasonable to wonder if it is possible to turn a lock of human hair into something as wild as a diamond. However, this is possible because of the way diamonds are formed.
Let's be clear: lab-grown diamonds are natural diamonds. Both man-made and mined diamonds are composed of a crystalline structure of carbon. In Sunny Eden™️'s lab, the professionals extract the carbon from the hair by process, so lab-grown diamonds are made out, and no one cannot tell any difference from its appearance to its chemical composition by eyes: they are the same as natural diamonds.
Carbon and global climate change
Carbon can be found everywhere, in the oceans, rocks and soils, in all existing life forms, and in our atmosphere. Without carbon, life would not be the same as we know it. The good health and good functioning of our planet depend on carbon and the way it circulates within the systems of the Earth.
By controlling the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the carbon cycle plays a key role in regulating the Earth's global temperature and climate. The carbon greenhouse effect is a naturally occurring phenomenon that warms the Earth enough for life to be and to survive. Without the greenhouse effect, our planet would be a very cold place.
Carbon dioxide is an important gas because it helps the planet’s atmosphere maintain the heat generated by the sun. On the other hand, too much carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere can cause planets to become unusually and excessively hot.
Different existing forms of carbon: diamonds, graphite, graphene.
Diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of carbon, and its atoms are arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. At room temperature and atmospheric pressure, another solid form of carbon called graphite, is known as the chemically stable form of carbon, but the conversion rate of diamond to it is very slow. Among all natural materials, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity, which are used in major industrial applications, such as cutting and polishing tools. This is also the reason why diamond anvil cells can make materials bear the pressure from the depths of the Earth.
Graphite
Graphite is the crystalline form of carbon, and its atoms are sorted in a hexagonal type of structure. It occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Graphite is widely used in pencils and lubricants, crucibles, casting surfaces, polishing agents, arc lamps, batteries, motor brushes and nuclear reactor cores.
Graphene
Graphene atoms are arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is part of graphite, but graphene itself is a remarkable material - with many amazing properties and it has been called "magical or wonder material" many times.
Graphene is the thinnest material known to man, only one atom thick and surprisingly strong - about 200 times that of steel. Most importantly, graphene is an excellent thermal and conductive material with interesting light absorption capacity. It is indeed a material that can change the world and has unlimited integration potential in almost any industry.
