how can one simple chemical, like cyanide, be so detrimental to the human body, compared to just carbon and just nitrogen?

Question

I just found it so wild that our bodies are full of carbon and nitrogen (even if as part of other chemicals. We breath, what I assume, to be molecular nitrogen. But then slap a carbon atom to a nitrogen atom and you’re screwed. Why?

In: 27

Answer 1

* It comes down to two main things:
* The electrical charge on the molecule
* The shape of the molecule.
* When you combine two atoms into a molecule, the overall electrical charge changes and that has a big impact on what other molecules it reacts with.
* The same can be said for the new shape.
* The shape effects how those charges interact with other molecules making it either more or less reactive.