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The Nature of Elements
The Nature of Elements
Once scientists understood the subatomic particles that made up atoms, they were better able to explain differences in elements. For example, they knew that mercury, oxygen, and copper were all different elements, each with unique physical properties. With knowledge that the number of protons in an atom determined its identity, scientists could begin to explain the differences between substances that make up the world around us.
For example, it had long been thought that living things differed from nonliving things by having their own special chemistry. Scientists discovered that no such special chemistry existed and that the chemistry of living things was the same as that of nonliving things. The difference had to do with their chemical makeup. Living things were found to be composed primarily of the elements carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, with lesser quantities of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and sulfur. Rocks and minerals from Earth’s crust were found to be composed primarily of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, and iron.
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In nature, all living and nonliving things are composed of
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