2) Gamma rays (photons) collide to make protons

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CHEMISTRY IT'S ALL ABOUT BUILDING BLOCKS
Energy as light makes matter
antimatter...which includes protons, neutrons,
electrons
By Ken Costello
Protons, Neutrons, Electrons are building
blocks for the elements
Anti-Matter
Matter
2) Gamma rays (photons) collide to make protons
antiprotons, electrons positrons, neutrons
antineutrons, quarks antiquarks. Most revert
to light, but some matter remains. Up Down
quarks also create protons neutrons. Lone
neutrons decay to protons electrons.
Supernova
Neutron
Proton
1) Energy in the form of light is first building
block. More specifically, the light is high
energy gamma rays.
Electron
Helium atom
First 8 elements protons electrons
Hydrogen 1
Helium 2
Lithium 3
Beryllium 4
Boron 5
Carbon 6
Nitrogen 7
Oxygen 8
Elements are building blocks for compounds.
3) Protons, neutrons, and electrons are versatile
building blocks which make the atoms for the
elements. The positive protons in the nucleus
attract orbiting negative electrons. Elements are
formed in stars and exploding stars (supernovas).
The number of protons in the nucleus determines
the element. Over a 100 elements are built, from
gases like helium (shown above) to metals like
gold. All made from these 3 tiny particles.
4) Electrical attraction repulsion are primary
forces that cause elements to combine. Protons
electrons attract each other even when in
different atoms. This attraction causes atoms to
combine to form a compound.
Hydrogen oxygen make water
5) Compounds are not man-made, elements assemble
themselves. Its important to point out that
elements can combine to form an almost infinite
number of compounds. They do not need humans to
combine. We think products like furniture,
medicines, soap, beer, glass, and candy are
man-made. People shape these products, but it is
the elements that assemble themselves into wood,
soap, glass, and sugar. People can steer
elements towards certain compounds, but in nature
elements do this on their own when conditions are
right. For convenience, we divide compounds
into two types Organic (carbon-based) and
inorganic.
6) Inorganic compounds are compounds that usually
do not come from an organism. They usually make
up non-living things like minerals. The building
blocks for minerals and salts are one or two
metals combined with one or two non-metals (2
non-metals can form a building block called a
polyatomic ion explained below). Inorganic
compounds often form crystals. For example,
table salt is the metal, sodium (Na), combined
with the non-metal gas, chlorine (Cl). They
build cubic-shaped salt crystals. Pyrite (Fools
Gold) is made from the metal, iron (Fe), plus two
atoms of the non-metal, sulfur. They build the
shiny golden crystal of Fools Gold. The two
most abundant elements in the Earths crust are
silicon (Si) and oxygen. So when you see a
mountain, about half of it is oxygen and about
30 is silicon. So silicon combined with oxygen
forms the common building block, silicon oxide.
You recognize it as quartz or glass. The other
common elements in order of abundance are the
metals aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, and
potassium. So one or two of these are often
combined with oxygen to form minerals, rocks,
soil, and even gems. All gems except diamonds
have oxygen in them. Sapphires and rubies are
built fromaluminum and oxygen. Emeralds have
aluminum, silicon, oxygen, beryllium. Topaz is
mostly aluminum, silicon, oxygen. Again,
oxygen, silicon, and aluminum are common
building blocks.
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7) Polyatomic Ions are two or more non-metal
atoms that behave as one atom and have a charge
(hence ion). As a group they are usually
negatively charged ions because they capture one
or more electrons from a metal, leaving the metal
positively charged. You learned earlier that
opposite charges attract. So the negatively
charged polyatomic ions are attracted to
positively charge metals. They combine to form
various salts (usually water soluble) and
minerals (usually insoluble). Since oxygen is
the most abundant element on Earth, its not
surprising to find oxygen as one of the elements
in most of the polyatomic ions. Lets look at
some of these.
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At the right you see that sulfur (S), phosphorus
(P), and chlorine (Cl) have 3 and 4 oxygen atoms
surrounding them. The negative number tells you
how many electrons the group has captured in
order to stay a stable group of atoms. By
themselves they are not building blocks because
two groups with a negative charge will repel each
other and not come together. However, after they
attract a positive metal ion, they then build
compounds.
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For example, chlorine with three or four oxygens
combines with a positive sodium or potassium ion
to make compounds that are used as a source of
oxygen in fireworks and explosives.
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8) Organic compounds contain carbon and often are
assembled by living things but not necessarily.
Hydrocarbons can assemble on their own or be made
by living things.
C
N
O
S
H
9) Hydrocarbons polymers Methylene (CH21
carbon 2 hydrogens) is the building block for
many hydrocarbons. One combines with two
hydrogens to make methane (natural gas) CH4.
Three make propane (CH3CH2CH3). 4 make butane
(cigarette lighter fluid). Six to ten make
gasoline. A few more make diesel. 20 or so make
motor oil. For structural compounds, the best
building block is ethylene (C2H22 carbons 2
hydrogens). Hundreds to thousands of these
chain to make the polymer (plastic),
polyethylene. You know it as cling wrap. With
other atoms attached to ethylene, numerous
polymers youve heard of are created.
C
H
H
Methylene
C
C
H
H
Ethylene
10) Living things use small compounds as building
blocks for larger compounds and large compounds
as building blocks for very large compounds
(macromolecules). For example, plants use the
small compounds carbon dioxide and water to make
sugars. The sugar molecules are then used to
make starch or cellulose with thousands of carbon
atoms. Very large organic compounds are used to
build structures like cell walls, muscle fibers,
fur, etc. Other very large organic compounds are
builtfor chemical energy storage (e.g. starch)
or for directing chemical reactions (e.g. enzymes
and DNA).
11) Carbohydrates Carbon dioxide (CO2) and
water (H2O) combine under photosynthesis to form
sugars with 5 to 12 carbons. The 6-carbon sugar,
glucose, becomes a building block for starch,
dextran, glycogen, and cellulose. Cellulose is
created by plants to form the woody structure of
the plant (cell walls, stems, truck, etc.) The
others are for storing chemical energy in plants,
animals, or bacteria.
This is glucose. It bends itself into 2 types of
ring positions. These rings connect in different
ways to form chains of either starch, cellulose,
glycogen, or dextran.
C
O
O
Carbon dioxide water make sugars
H
H
O
O
H
C
N
C
12) Amino acids are building blocks for proteins
Amino acids chain together to make proteins. The
simplest amino acid is glycine (shown). Other
amino acids have more atoms attached to the left
carbon
O
H
H
H
H
Acid part
Amino part
13) Lipids (oils and fats) Fatty acids have an
acid part just like amino acids, but the fatty
part is a hydrocarbon. These are building blocks
for oils and fat. Organisms use lipids for
chemical energy storage and for building
structures like membranes.
O
H
H
H
H
H
C
C
C
C
C
C
H
O
H
14) RNA and DNA The building block for RNA and
DNA are four nucleosides. Nucleosides have a 5
carbon sugar ring (ribose), and one or two rings
that contain nitrogen. Slight differences in the
nitrogen rings create the 4 nucleosides,guanine,
cytosine, thymine, and adenine. Shown are two
nucleosides held together by hydrogen bonding.
Shown is just one rung on the DNA ladder. Each
sequence of three of nucleosides translates to an
amino acid that gets assembled into a protein.
Proteins buildthe rest of the organism.
H
H
H
H
H
Acid part
HydrocarbonFatty part
N
O
N
H-N
O
OH
N
N-H
N
N
O
O
O
O
O-P-O-C
O
N
N
C-O-P-O
N-H
O
O
Cytosine
Guanine
OH
Summary Light ? Electrons, Neutrons, Protons ?
Elements ? Compounds ? Macromolecules? Organisms
Phosphate
N
O
N
Ribose sugar