Chemical symbol for iron1/25/2024 Phosphorus, then, is nature’s bottleneck. Unlike carbon, which can be obtained from carbon dioxide, there is no phosphorus compound present in our surroundings that can serve as a convenient source. We need phosphorus for our bones and teeth, and it is a crucial component of all living cells. Phosphorus makes up 1.1% of the human body but only 0.105% of Earth’s crust. There is an element that we need more of in our bodies than is proportionately present in Earth’s crust, and this element is not easily accessible. Looking Closer: The Phosphorous Bottleneck On the other hand, although carbon is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, and about 80% of the atmosphere is nitrogen, we obtain those two elements from the food we eat, not the air we breathe. We obtain oxygen from the air we breathe and the water we drink. How does the human body concentrate so many apparently rare elements? The relative amounts of elements in the body have less to do with their abundances on Earth than with their availability in a form we can assimilate. Oxygen has the highest percentage in both cases, but carbon, the element with the second highest percentage in the body, is relatively rare on Earth and does not even appear as a separate entry carbon is part of the 0.174% representing “other” elements. If you compare both compositions, you will find disparities between the percentage of each element in the human body and on Earth. \) also lists the relative abundances of elements in the human body.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |