If I had a microscope that could see atoms and molecules, how far out would I need to zoom before I could tell I was looking at life?
I’ve heard things like “people are 70% water” but water is not alive.
I’m asking in chemistry because I’m not sure if life at a molecular level is considered biology.
In: Chemistry
This is a very loaded question.
Everything in the universe is made up of atoms (elements that you’d find on a periodic table). For instance: Hydrogen is an element, so is oxygen.
When atoms are combined they are called molecules. So, 2 individual Hydrogens attract to a single oxygen atom, creating a single water molecule (which is 3 atoms = 2 H + 1 O). In this example, they attract like magnets (here, it is called an ionic bond).
So, atoms have charges that allows them to bind to other atoms, or repel atoms, again, think of atoms as tiny magnets. Some have positive charge(s), others have negative charge(s). If you were to combine 1H atom to another, you get Hydrogen gas, which is explosive.
When molecules are combined, you have compounds.
EVERYTHING, living (person) or inanimate (rock), is made up of atoms/molecules. Organically (pertaining to life/carbon), the common elements are Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulphur.
Don’t think in terms of biology or chemistry. It’s all the same. (If you want to get technical… in biology and organic chemistry the focus is mostly on those 6 elements listed above, as they are mostly involved with life and metabolic processes. The concepts remain the same.)
All molecular means is that it is broken down to its most basic form. I.e a bucket of water vs 1 molecule of water. It can go the other way too: 1 molecule of water can be broken into Hydrogen (gas) and Oxygen (radical) via a process called electrolysis.
As people, we are made up of cells, cells are made up of molecules, which are further broken down to atoms. This holds true for everything…water, blood, food, textiles, metals….everything.
Alloy (Brass or Steel) = Combined metal atoms like tin, aluminium, zinc, copper, gold, silver, etc.
At most superficial, when our blood is taken…It then separated into components, to help diagnose disease. Then tests get more and more specific to narrow down the diagnosis. This determination often breaks things down to the molecular or cellular level because processes need to be assessed.
Hope that didn’t confuse you more.
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