Question

Name the four elements that make up the bulk of living matter

Answer 1

In living things, there are 6 common elements that can be found: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus. Among these, the major ones are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

The most important of all that characterizes organic matter from the rest, is the presence of carbon. Carbon is a versatile element because it can bond to itself to an unlimited length. Because of this, it makes itself as host to other functionalities like hydroxide, amines and many more. The combination of a length of carbon chains with other of these major elements make up the basic compounds that our body needs. Compounds like carbohydrates, lipids, hormones, proteins and even our DNA and RNA strands are made up of these major elements.