Question

All organic substances possess
A. Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen
B. Carbon, Oxygen and Nitrogen
C. Carbon and Hydrogen
D. Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen

Answer 1

Hint: A substance/compound is called organic if it has carbon bound to other atoms such as hydrogen, nitrogen, or oxygen. All known organisms on the earth are based on organic compounds. Millions of organic compounds are known because of carbon’s ability to form chains with other carbon atoms.

Complete Answer:
- Organic compounds can be classified in a lot of ways, one of them being natural and synthetic compounds. Natural compounds are those that are produced by plants or animals, for example, sugars, some alkaloids and terpenoids, some nutrients like vitamin B12 etc. As they would be expensive to produce artificially, many are extracted from plants and animals in which they are present in reasonable concentrations.
- There are compounds already present naturally in plants and animals but are synthesized by their reaction with other compounds known as synthetic. Most synthetically produced organic compounds are derived from petrochemicals consisting of mainly hydrocarbons, formed from the high pressure and temperature underground.
- Many compounds are not produced naturally and they are made industrially with the help of bacteria and yeasts, for example, ethanol and insulin.
- Living things incorporate inorganic carbon compounds into organic compounds through a network of processes (carbon cycle) that begins with the conversion of carbon dioxide and a hydrogen source like water into simple sugars and other organic molecules by sources of energy like light.
- Though carbon can bind with a lot of atoms, all organic compounds possess carbon and hydrogen.

Hence, the correct option is C, ‘Carbon and Hydrogen’.

Note: Some carbon-containing compounds like carbides, carbonates, cyanides etc. are considered as inorganic for historical reasons. Other natural compounds include antigens, carbohydrates, enzymes, hormones, lipids, and fatty acids, nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, vitamins etc.