Main Differences Between Organic And Inorganic Compounds
What Are Inorganic Compounds
Simply stated, the inverse of an organic compound is an inorganic compound. To understand more how inorganic compounds are classified, first of all, it helps to learn what makes certain compounds organic.
An inorganic compound can be referred to as a compound not having a carbon-to-hydrogen bond, also referred to as a C-H bond. Besides, inorganic substances appear to be minerals or substances not having carbon-to-hydrogen bonds, based on geology.
Not all, but most inorganic compounds have one metal in them.
Examples Of Inorganic Compounds
Understanding organic and inorganic compounds is straightforward when recalling that inorganic compounds lack carbon-hydrogen bonds. Inorganic molecules consist of metals, salts, minerals, single elements, and any carbon compounds not linked to hydrogen. Well-known examples include silver, sulfur, diamond , carbon dioxide , and table salt, scientifically known as sodium chloride . Since these compounds have higher melting points and exact conductivity properties, they are often utilized as catalysts, pigments, coatings, fuels, or medicines.
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What Is The Difference Between Organic Chemistry And Inorganic Chemistry
Organic chemistry is the field of chemistry that deals with the structure, properties, reactions and other facts about organic compounds whereas inorganic chemistry is the field of chemistry that deals with inorganic compounds. This is the key difference between organic and inorganic chemistry. Since most of the organic compounds are covalent compounds, we have to deal mainly with covalent compounds during the study of organic chemistry. However, most of the inorganic compounds are ionic compounds. Hence we have to deal with ionic compounds during the study of inorganic chemistry. Hence, this is a major difference between organic and inorganic chemistry.
Further differences are shown in the infographic of the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry.
Application Of Inorganic Chemistry
There are various applications of Inorganic compounds in medicine and well as our homes.
Application in Medicine
The inorganic compound Magnesium Hydroxide, Aluminum Hydroxide is used as antacids for acidity and heartburns. Similarly, Sodium Fluoride uses its application in toothpaste to prevent various dental diseases. In the hospitals, to enhance the hemoglobin levels for the anemic patients, Ferrous Sulfate is used. Of all the things, the most common one is Oxygen which is used for respiration. Inorganic compound Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride is used as oral rehydration salt for relieving weakness during the de-hydration, vomiting or diarrhea.
Application at home
The most common Inorganic compound that you know about is table salt. Then, there are various other compounds such as Baking soda, Bleaching powder, Washing soda and so on that are used in a household on a daily basis. Inorganic compounds also include the minerals used in various items such as Bentonite, Talc, Steatite, and so on.
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Manufacturing And Industrial Production
The making of a vast number of manufactured products is only made possible by using inorganic compounds.
Knowledge of inorganic chemistry is needed to ensure that these compounds are applied in the most optimal way possible. Such products include fibers such as textiles, polymer, paper, polyethylene, and particular types of plastics.
The same goes for coatings, pigments, and paints that contain salts or metallic oxides.
Inorganic chemistry can also be applied in mining.
Chemistry: Your Field Of Study
Chemistry is the scientific discipline that has as object of study the composition and structure of the matter and is in charge of investigating and analyzing the reactions that are generated during the interaction between the different elements.
This discipline is of great importance and is considered one of the main ones within the so-called natural sciences, starting many other sciences from it. It also allows not only the theoretical knowledge but the use and practical application of this information in the creation of new materials and substances.
Within chemistry we can find different specialties, being one of the first and best known the division between organic and inorganic chemistry. While the first is responsible for the study of those elements that are part of living beings, the second refers to the study of the rest of the elements.
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Are Vitamins Organic Or Inorganic
All vitamins are organic compounds because they contain carbon and are synthesised in living organisms. The human body needs 13 types of vitamins, which are classified as micronutrients that mainly serve as coenzymes to facilitate metabolic processes. Vitamins can be grouped into two main classes:
- Fat soluble vitamins, which include vitamins A, D, E, and K
- Water-soluble vitamins, which include ascorbic acid or vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 folacin, vitamin B12, biotin, and pantothenic acid
Vitamins are present in virtually all living organisms at varying levels. Some are synthesised by animals through their skin and liver, while others can be found in a wide range of plants. Vitamins always contain carbon in various arrangements and chemical combinations, along with other functional groups or elements. This is why all vitamins are organic.
Is Nitric Acid Organic Or Inorganic?
We know that nitric acid is an inorganic compound because its chemical formula tells us that each molecule in this compound has one hydrogen atom, one nitrogen atom, and three oxygen atoms. Although its used as a precursor to nitrogen organic compounds, nitric acid itself obviously doesnt contain any carbon, which is why its classed as an inorganic compound.
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What Are Organic Substances
Organic substances are the molecules containing carbon atoms as an essential component. Most of the times, these molecules contain hydrogen atoms and C-H covalent bonds. Typically, all the living things contain organic substances. Due to the ability of carbon to form chains via binding with other carbon atoms, there are millions of organic compounds in the world. However, some compounds contain carbon as a component but we do not categorize them as organic compounds because of historical reasons .
Figure 01: A diagram for an Organic Substance containing Carbon atoms Hydrogen atoms , Oxygen atoms and nitrogen
We can classify organic substances in different ways such as natural compounds and synthetic compounds mainly. Sometimes, we divide them depending on the structure, properties, size, etc. as well. The major tools that we can use for the structure determination of organic substances are a proton and carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, etc. ?
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Synthesis Of Organic Compounds
The discovery of urea was responsible for the revolution in the field of organic chemistry. In 1845, this discovery was helpful for Kolbe to work on the preparation of acetic acid in the laboratory while Hennel worked successfully on the preparation of ethyl alcohol.
Berthelot in 1856 was successful in the preparation of methane in the laboratory without using any living organism.
What Is The Difference Between Organic And Inorganic Chemistry
Organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry are two of the main branches of chemistry that you will study if you take on any chemistry degree.
But sometimes, for young students or chemistry beginners, it is not easy to differentiate between the two of them. If you are intending to take any chemistry course at high school or college, you need to make sure that you can tell between the two of them. There is plenty of things to learn, and a lot of interesting facts to read explanations about in chemistry, but you need to make sure to grasp the basics first.
Which Are the Main Fields of Chemistry?
You can subdivide chemistry in many subfields, but there are actually four main branches in which we can divide this science:
- Organic Chemistry: The chemistry of organic compounds, which are based on covalently bonded carbon atoms.
- Inorganic Chemistry: This basically refers to the study of the chemical compounds that are not organic compounds.
- Physical Chemistry: This is the middle point between physics and chemistry. These two sciences merge in physical chemistry, which uses physics to study chemical systems.
- Analytical Chemistry: This branch of chemistry studies methods, techniques and techniques to separate, characterize and quantify chemical compounds. It is mainly based on physical chemistry and applied in both organic and inorganic chemistry.
On this post, we focus on the similarities and differences between organic and inorganic chemistry.
But why is this difference important?
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What Is The Difference Between Biochemistry And Organic Chemistry
Organic Chemistry looking at vehicles that enter the element carbon as an essential element in Tkoicha include research in medicine , pharmaceutical drugs ,
Fuels , dyes , industrial yarns , clothing crackers , fertilizer , Alambidatalhharih , elastomers , plastics , detergents , soap , … etc. . They are examples of the overall activities of the industries covered in organic chemistry. The biochemistry is that branch of chemistry which looks at the material composition comprising the antibodies organisms and the interactions that take place within a living cell during breathing or output or growth or sensation or aging and contributed to the preparation of a number of chemical compounds vital Khermonat plant and animal vitamins and other enabling study their interactions and their effects inside and outside the cell and make up the shortfall in these materials for the organism.
Biochemisty is the study of chemical processes in biological systems
Difference Between Organic And Inorganic Substances
June 21, 2011 Posted by Madhu
The key difference between organic and inorganic substances is that all organic substances contain carbon as an essential component whereas inorganic substances may or may not contain carbon.
Most of the times, organic substances contain carbon, hydrogen and sometimes oxygen, along with C-H bonds. But most of the inorganic compounds do not contain carbon except some substances such as carbonates and cyanides which are categorized as inorganic due to historical reasons . Therefore, the main difference between organic and inorganic substances lies upon the chemical composition of the substance.
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New Version Of Organic Chemistry
After the successful synthesis of various organic compounds in the laboratory, the Vital force theory was completely disregarded. An in-depth study of organic compounds revealed that these compounds are mainly made up of carbon. The study of compounds of carbon mainly is known as organic chemistry.
One thing to be noted here is that the mere presence of carbon in the compound does not indicate that the compound is organic. For example, CO2 contains carbon but is an inorganic compound.
An in-depth understanding of the structures of organic compounds shows that all the organic compounds are made up of carbon as their main component which is invariably associated with hydrogen as well. These organic compounds which are mainly made of carbon and hydrogen are called hydrocarbons.
There are a large number of organic compounds present that contain inorganic particles such as nitrogen, Sulphur, phosphorus etc. But these compounds are derivatives of hydrocarbons only and hence are regarded as organic compounds.
Hence organic chemistry is defined as the chemistry of hydrocarbons and their derivatives.
Difference Between Organic And Inorganic Chemistry
In a broad view, chemistry can be classified as a branch of physical science that explains the origin, structure and behaviour of matter and the change of matter from one form to another. Inorganic and Organic Chemistry are two different branches of chemistry that depend on the nature of compounds. The main difference between organic and inorganic chemistry is that inorganic chemistry is the study of inorganic compounds, whereas organic chemistry is the study of organic compounds.
This article explains,
1. What is Inorganic Chemistry? Definition, Reactions, Structure, Properties
2. What is Organic Chemistry? Definition, Reactions, Structure, Properties
3. What is the difference between Inorganic and Organic Chemistry?
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Different Types Of Chemistry
Fundamentally, chemistry is the study of matter and change. The way that chemists study matter and change and the types of systems that are studied varies dramatically. Traditionally, chemistry has been broken into five main subdisciplines: Organic, Analytical, Physical, Inorganic, and Biochemistry. Over the last several years, additional concentrations have begun to emerge, including Nuclear chemistry, Polymer chemistry, Biophysical chemistry, Bioinorganic chemistry, Environmental chemistry, etceteras. All of these areas of chemistry are addressed in our classes here at UWL to some extent, and by the research interests of our faculty in the Chemistry Department. The following descriptions of the five major subdisciplines were written by several of our faculty members in their field of expertise. All of our faculty members would be happy to elaborate, and/or discuss other aspects of chemistry that are not described below! UW-La Crosse’s accredited Chemistry and Biochemistry programs blend technical, hands-on research experience with practical skill development.
What Are Organic Compounds
These are any chemical substances that contain carbon. Numerous organic substances are identified because of the capacity of the carbon to catenate . The study referred to as organic chemistry includes the evaluation of the structures and reactions of organic compounds.
While organic compounds make up just a tiny percentage of the Earths surface, they are of essential significance because organic compounds are the source of all known life.
Living organisms integrate inorganic carbon compounds into organic compounds through a channel of mechanisms starting with the processing of carbon dioxide and supply of hydrogens such as water into simple sugars and other organic molecules, utilizing light or other energy sources.
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What Is An Organic Compound
An organic compound is a class of chemical compounds that contains carbon, hydrogen, and other atoms. It is also known as hydrocarbons .
A million organic compounds are known till now. These organic compounds are the main components of living beings. In the carbon cycle and photosynthesis, the conversion of inorganic compounds to organic compounds like simple sugar occurs. Most of the synthetically produced organic compounds are from Petrochemicals mainly hydrocarbons.
The basic properties of carbon leads to formation of large number of organic compounds. these properties are
- Tetravalency
- Catenation
- The small size of carbon.
What Is The Difference Between Organic And Inorganic Compounds
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Organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen. They also often contain oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorous and/or sulfur. Most inorganic compounds don’t contain carbon and hydrogen.
The molecules that make up living things are organic. These include proteins, carbohydrates, fats and nucleic acids. Petroleum products are also organic compounds. They are made of…
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Summary Organic Chemistry Vs Inorganic Chemistry
Organic and inorganic chemistry are two major branches of chemistry. The key difference between organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry is that the organic chemistry is the field of chemistry which deals with the structure, properties, reactions and other facts about organic compounds whereas the inorganic chemistry is the field of chemistry which deals with inorganic compounds.
Reference:
1. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. The Difference Between Organic and Inorganic. ThoughtCo, Oct. 5, 2018. Available here 2. Organic Chemistry. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Oct. 2018. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.Maitotoxin 2D structureBy Charlesy Own work, via Commons Wikimedia2.Inorganic-montage via Commons Wikimedia
Do All Organic Compounds Come From Life
What you need to be aware of is that not all organic substances come from life. Many organic compounds are created inside living organisms but molecules can be generated through other processes.
For instance, organic compounds discovered on Mars or within a nebula arent indicators of alien existence. Solar radiation may provide the energy required to convert inorganic compounds into organic matter.
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Difference Between Organic And Inorganic
The terms organic and inorganic mean something different in chemistry than when youre talking about food and produce. Organic and inorganic compounds form the basis for organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry. Organic chemists study organic molecules, their synthesis, and the reactions between them. Inorganic chemists study all other types of substances, including salts, metals, and minerals.
The main difference between the two classes of substances is that organic compounds always contain the element carbon, while most inorganic compounds lack this element. Because there are carbon-containing inorganic compounds, the presence of carbon is not sufficient to classify a compound as organic! With very few exceptions, organic compounds contain carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms to form the C-H bonds. Many organic compounds also contain oxygen atoms.
Scope Of Fundamental Research
The investigations of the chemistry, as much of the organic as the inorganic, have allowed to obtain a deep knowledge of the operation and behavior of the matter.
While organic chemistry allows the knowledge of the structure of biological material and how it is affected by the interaction with other compounds , inorganic chemistry allows the knowledge of the structure and characteristics of non-living material and the realization of different compounds in such a way that new materials can be created .
This article has given you some of the main differences between organic and inorganic chemistry . The main differences being type of bond between atoms can be different and the reactions in which each one specializes tend to differ slightly.
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