CHNOPS and CHON are mnemonic for the most common chemical element in living organisms. "CHON" stands for carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, which together make up more than 95 percent of the mass of biological systems.[ "CHNOPS" adds phosphorus and sulfur.
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Description
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur are the six most important whose Covalent bond combinations make up most Biology on Earth.
In animals in general, the four elements—C, H, N, and O—compose about 96% of the weight, and major minerals (macrominerals) and minor minerals (also called ) compose the remainder.
Sulfur is contained in the cysteine and methionine.
C-type asteroid are rich in CHON elements.[ Water vs. Rocks: Resources for Earth or for Exploration? SSI-TV video archive, recorded on 30 October 2010, 66:07, four talks and Q&A given during Session 2: Extraterrestrial Prospecting of the Space Studies Institute’s Space Manufacturing 14 conference in California. Prof. Michael A'Hearn (University of Maryland) @ 7:10 in the video. The video also includes Brad Blair, Space Studies Institute, and Prof. Leslie Gertsch, University of Missouri-Rolla: Mining Concepts Development for Accessing Asteroid Resources ; Mark Sonter, Asteroid Enterprises Pty Ltd Resources: Asteroids: What We Can Expect From What We Know Now ; Dr. Faith Vilas, University of Arizona, Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory, Retrieved 2011-01-07.]
These asteroids are the most common type and frequently collide with Earth as . Such collisions were especially common early in Earth's history, and these impactors may have been crucial in the formation of the planet's oceans.[
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The simplest compounds to contain all of the CHON elements are isomers fulminic acid (HCNO), isofulminic acid (HONC), cyanic acid (HOCN) and isocyanic acid (HNCO), having one of each atom.
See also
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Abundance of the chemical elements
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Biochemistry
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Bioinorganic chemistry
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Carbon-based life
External links
